Red Sun Rising
by dismaynight
Summary: Her mistakes have brought her here. Where war will break out between Akatsuki and the world. Where love is a secret privilege, where friends be enemies, enemies be lovers. And now, the only mistakes are theirs. / Shippuuden, OC, mystery pairing.
1. Mission Prompting

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 1

"Mission Prompting"

It was a cold, cold night.

A purple-headed woman sat atop the roof of an apartment in the heart of Konoha. Her dark eyes scanned her surroundings, but nothing was askew in matters of normality. The streetlights were all on, none blinking, the streets themselves almost entirely empty -- another uneventful night. She wasn't complaining, though; Konoha having robbers or thieves, or even just plain troublemakers, would mean a lack of shinobi discipline, meaning the Elders would blame and be angrily disappointed in the Hokage, who would then take out her fury and frustration on the jounin. She just preferred calm things anyways.

She sighed through chapped lips, then, a puff of her frosted breath rising before her eyes. It was far too cold for her liking.

She jumped down from the rooftop, landed silently upon the ground, and commenced her walk towards her own apartment.

This was exactly what she did every night; watched the calm streets of Konoha for three and a half hours and then left for her rest, handing the job over to her neighbor, Niki Ashikaru, who would then pass it on to their across-the-street neighbor, Aburame Shino, who would watch for the rest of the night. She had been doing this for almost a year, now -- when she was not on missions, of course -- and she was starting to get sick of it. It was simply too much of the same thing, overfilling her already-stressed mind.

She sometimes thought that she might give anything just for one little change, but this small, silent request was, obviously, not to be obliged. She probably wouldn't deserve it anyways. She's made so many mistakes in the past -- mistakes that almost no one else could handle (Hell if she could handle them herself), and mistakes that cost her so dearly; it made her stomach, heart, and head ache just thinking about any of it. She loved thinking, however, for it was something calming that didn't take much effort to do. The only downsides were the thoughts and memories that liked to pop up randomly to plague her -- thoughts memories that she would quickly have to lock away in the back of her mind once more.

When she had arrived at Ashikaru's (shaking her head loose of her previous train of thought and replacing it with thoughts of sleep), she knocked four times, then went next door and unlocked the peeling white door to her own abode. She heard Ashikaru's door open and close as she stepped inside, and took that as the apparent sign that he had no verbal complaints. She closed her own door and walked to her bedroom. Her hitai-ate was pulled free of her leg.

She slept, and about 90 miles away, a group of foreign ninjas rested and awoke the next morning, continuing their journey to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

--

Tasaki Chiharu awoke the next morning to find herself fully clothed, her hitai-ate gripped loosely in her hand. She groaned and mumbled to herself, clearing the fog in her mind, and slipped out of bed and into the short hallway as she re-tied her headband around her thigh.

She had to admit, she was _very_ tired that morning, and a large cup of coffee was sounding more and more appealing as it wore on, but she knew that she couldn't waste any time.

As she dressed herself in more casual clothes than her mission-specific ones, she couldn't help but remember what Tsunade had told her just the day before: "I want you in my office at 9:44 _sharp_. No sooner, no later!"

Of course, Chiharu had asked her why she needed to be there at such an extremely specific time, but the Hokage just shook her empty sake bottle at her and shooed her off. Chiharu knew that Tsunade had been a bit troubled the moment she entered -- the Godaime's eyes never ceased in showing her true emotions -- and had been wary of what she wanted her to do. Of course, setting extremely specific tasks was definitely not an unusual feat for the Fifth, but the way that the order had been given was foreboding on its own.

As Chiharu exited her apartment, stretching out her shoulders and fingers as she did, she heard a scream from below and immediately peered over the railing of the apartment building.

On the street below, a man was sprinting away with a red handbag, and 75 meters away she could hear a woman's voice screeching "THIEF!"

Instinctively, Chiharu flipped over the bars and leapt quickly towards the thief. The man seemed to sense her following him and he sprinted even faster, but it didn't make a difference. Chiharu caught him in less than three seconds, and with a quick flip and a hard thump, tied the criminal up and retrieved the handbag.

"Hey!" Chiharu turned towards the voice, finding it to be Haruno Sakura's mother, Yoka. She didn't even have to have met her before to know this fact -- the light pink hair was an obvious giveaway. "That belongs to me, Chiharu!"

She nodded and silently gave it back. With a casual salute, Chiharu walked off, hearing a buoyant "thank you" from behind her as she did.

Mrs. Haruno seemed to have been the victim of a lot of thefts lately, and Chiharu was beginning to become suspicious. She continued to try to think of a reason as to why it was all happening, but, even as she arrived at the door of the Hokage's office at exactly 9:44 a.m., couldn't think of any reason at all. She decided, for the time being, to forget about it.

She knocked four times and, upon hearing an irritated "Come in!" from inside, opened the door and stepped over the threshold.

"You wanted to see me, Tsunade-sama?" asked Chiharu as she scanned the office. Hatake Kakashi was present, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, whom Chiharu smiled at. The only other thing that interested her was that the desk was messily covered in scrolls and books and sake bottles; so messy, in fact, that a good fraction of the things from the desk had piled on the floor around it.

Tsunade sighed and turned her back on the window behind her desk. "Yes," she said, and, in the back of her mind, Chiharu noted that she sounded distressed, though it was slightly hidden by the power in her voice. "Yes. I have recently received information that Suna was attacked a week ago."

"What?" said Kakashi disbelievingly as he pushed himself off the wall. "Why were we not informed of this earlier?"

"Because the first person who was supposed to deliver the news was killed as he entered the country," Tsunade explained, emptying a sake bottle as she finished. "The second person they sent was an elite ninja of theirs and just arrived here yesterday."

"Who was Suna's attacker?" inquired Chiharu, although she felt she already knew the answer.

"Akatsuki, of course!" yelled Tsunade in tired irritation, and slammed a book shut as she sat down behind her desk.

"What was the motive?"

"I don't know. That's what I want to discuss with you two…."

Kakashi took a step forward. "You don't think they could be trying to finish off the Kazekage, do you?"

Chiharu shook her head, and the other two ninja turned to her. They could almost hear the gears in her mind turning and clicking. "No… Akatsuki doesn't quite work like that…." She started to pace. "They don't need to finish him off -- he's useless to them now, and is in no way a threat." Kakashi gave her a skeptical look.

"What do you mean, 'not a threat'? He's strong, Haru, very strong, and he has command over an entire country," Kakashi supplied, crossing his arms again. She wanted to smile at his usual nickname for her, but knew it was too serious a conversation to start getting reminiscent.

"But do you really think he'd want to try fending off the Akatsuki again? Gaara knows better -- he was almost killed the first time, and he even had his 'ultimate defense' then. Now, because Shukaku left his body, he has to defend himself _by _himself, and it slows him down. He's no threat to _them_, nor are his people. The Akatsuki is way too strong," Haru finished, closing her eyes.

There was a knock on the door.

"What?" yelled the Hokage.

"It's me! I need to talk to ya'!"

"Fine. Come in."

Uzumaki Naruto entered as soon as the words left her mouth, smiling, and eyed the office innocently. "Wow, you need to clea-- Kakashi-sensei! Haru-chan!" Naruto grinned wider as he saw his friends. Haru smiled lightly at him as Kakashi gave a short wave and a "Yo."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something else (most likely an overexcited greeting, since he hadn't seen Kakashi or Haru for weeks), but Tsunade interrupted with, "What is it that you want, Naruto? We're busy!"

"Oh, sorry," said the male jinchuuriki as he scratched the back of his head and laughed. "Uh, well, you said you had a mission for me, so I decided to come a little early…."

"WELL, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE!" Tsunade bellowed, waving a bottle at him.

Naruto cringed. "I said I was sorry!"

Before things could get out of hand, Haru stated calmly, "It's alright. We can continue another time, can't we, Tsunade-sama?"

The blond woman sighed and sat down again (when had she stood up?). "Fine. The mission is actually for you, Haru, Kakashi, _and_ Sakura, so if you would kindly--"

Another knock sounded, and the four turned to see Haruno Sakura standing in the open doorway. "Am I late?" asked the pink-haired teen upon seeing everyone in the room.

Tsunade sighed. "No. Come in."

Sakura walked over the threshold and stood between Naruto and Kakashi.

"Alright," Tsunade began. "I have a mission for all of you…"

--


	2. Ambush

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 2

"Ambush"

Haru stopped on a branch near the forest's pathway, panting quietly. Naruto and the others soon caught up, sitting in a tree behind her. She parted the leaves in front of her silently, and then motioned for the others to do the same. Their target could be seen about a mile down the path to their right, slowly making its way over the horizon.

"So we just have to ambush them?" whispered Sakura. Haru nodded. "Why?"

"…They," said Haru, figuring it was time Sakura and Naruto understood, "are from the Sound Village."

Sakura gasped and turned her gaze to the carriage and guard ninjas making their way towards their small group. "Y-…you mean…?"

Haru nodded, but Kakashi spoke for her. "Sasuke could very well be one of the ninja. For all we know, he could be in the carriage… which is why we can't kill _any_one until we've recorded their identities. We can't let any of them get away."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Sakura's hand went to her mouth in worry.

"But I doubt that Sasuke would be with them," commented Haru quietly. "He is too highly valued among Sound, and Orochimaru would rather have him unscathed."

"…But," said Naruto slowly, "he could be."

Haru nodded. "He could be."

"Get ready!" hissed Kakashi as the carriage drew ever closer. The group tensed.

The carriage, being pulled by two brawny ninja, was mere yards away from the ambush point. The group held their breath. The guard ninja surrounded the carriage from all sides, except for one who walked in front of another ninja. Haru guessed the front one to be the leader. They were only feet away, now… inches… millimeters--

A net of wire sprang upwards and caught four ninja, holding them tight. This being the cue, Kakashi and Sakura jumped out from the hiding spot, almost invisible from their speed, and tackled three ninja and bound them in wire. Meanwhile, Haru flipped out, throwing out wires and small chains. She dodged almost all of the Sound ninja's weaponry, and bound the last four ninja. As she landed, Naruto jumped into the carriage. The group heard a muffled thump, and Naruto walked out with a tied up man with white hair.

Minutes later, all of the Sound ninja sat, unmoving, against the carriage, and Kakashi and Haru began to interrogate them.

After a while, the two Leaf ninja found that none of them, except one who they hadn't tried yet, seemed to know much of anything about where they were going. The only piece of useful information that they had gleaned was that they had to go directly north until the white haired man inside said to stop. It was that very man that they hadn't interrogated yet.

"You," said Kakashi, pointing to said person. "What is your name?"

The man lifted his head, smirking and showing his face for the first time, and the Leaf group instantly recognized him.

"Kabuto!" shouted Naruto. "You-!"

Haru held fast to the kyuubi's arm, feeling that it would be best if she kept him restrained.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Where are you going?"

"Heh," said Kabuto as Kakashi kneeled in front of him, kunai drawn. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"You'd tell us if you know what's good for you," Kakashi growled and held the kunai to Kabuto's neck.

He chuckled. "You can't scare me."

Kakashi sighed quietly. "Haru… your turn."

Haru nodded and gave Naruto a warning look as she let go of his arm and walked to Kabuto. Kakashi stood and took a step back, allowing Haru full access to Orochimaru's assistant. She blinked slowly, and her eyes changed from a dark green to white, three small ovals centering on her pupil.

"We warned you, Kabuto," she said in a low voice before placing her fingertips on his forehead. "Now you'll see why…." Chakra surrounded her hand as her fingers slipped into his head as if his flesh and bone were water. Haru stared into his eyes for a second before closing her own.

_He lay on a steel bed, eyes set directly above him. He couldn't control himself -- it was like someone had possessed his body. He could see a few throwing needles floating above him, all pointed towards him. Suddenly, pain wracked his body as thousands of needles pierced him and disappeared, then appeared and pierced him again. This continued for some time, before it suddenly stopped as fast as it had begun. He was panting. The pain was gone, but he could still remember it. Then, in the space of a second, he could feel all of his bones breaking. He screamed… and screamed… and screamed… and--_

Haru watched as his body fidgeted this way and that, before he screamed again. She removed her hand from inside his arm, healed it just as she had the other bones, and then let her chakra dissipate. Kabuto's head dropped and he panted for breath, twitching every now and then from the former pain. She removed the fingers from his head and he jumped slightly.

The group let a few moments pass, but before they could say anything, Kabuto spoke up.

"Okay," he gasped. "Okay…. We were going to… a lookout tower…. It's already… deserted…. There are… stashes of… weapons and… poisons…."

He was quiet.

"Is that all?" said Haru softly.

He nodded before sending a weak glare her way.

"You're sure about that?" she said skeptically.

"Yes!" he hissed.

Haru sighed and reached into his chest. Her fingers twitched, and Kabuto was unconscious. "Alright, get these ninja out of here. Sakura. Naruto." The two appointed ninja nodded and picked up a handful of the ninja by the bindings before leaping off into the forest.

Haru sighed again. "You know, I half expected them to be going to Orochimaru's hideout."

"So did I," said Kakashi, moving the ninja away from the carriage.

"Always such lame missions lately, I swear… and those night watches aren't making it any better," she continued, picking up deflected shuriken and leftover wire.

"No kidding… but I suppose there's no point in complaining about it," he replied. The two began to dismember the carriage.

"Hm," said Haru. "What are we going to do with the carriage pieces?"

"I would say burn them, but…."

"Bury them?"

"Either that or… we could find a ditch somewhere."

They laughed.

"Burying it is, then," said Haru, and she pulled tarp from the ceiling.

Ten minutes went by and Sakura and Naruto came back to pick up more Sound ninja as Haru and Kakashi proceeded with burying the extremely dismembered carriage. Fifteen more minutes flew by and they came back to get the last ninja, including Kabuto. The carriage was completely underground ten minutes after that. Haru and Kakashi moved on to keeping a lookout around the area for half an hour.

Haru dusted off her shirt and gloves. "I've been thinking…" she said.

"About what?" said Kakashi.

"Akatsuki."

He looked at her in concern as they sat down at the base of a tree.

"What in the world are they planning? They wouldn't attack Suna for no reason… but I can't see a realistic reason for it no matter how I look at it."

Kakashi sighed. "I don't know… but whatever it is, we have to be -- _umph!_"

Haru had thrown herself onto him, putting them some feet away from the tree they had been sitting under. Quickly, Haru sat up again and pulled out her defensive wire, throwing a shield of it between them and the tree. Kakashi heard an explosion immediately afterwards.

"_Get up!_" she hissed and stood, retracting the wire.

Kakashi stood. "What the--"

"_Sh!_"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her, but listened to the surroundings silently nonetheless. He may not have heard anything, but something was definitely wrong.

Suddenly, a large black blur darted across the pathway at them, something glinting in its clutches. It was only feet away when Haru darted at it, kunai in hand. She successfully blocked it, and the figure paused for a moment, allowing Kakashi to see that it was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. But before he could see its face, it jumped back and struck again.

Haru dodged and slashed at it, but it had already moved behind her. Using the kunai's momentum, she spun around and slashed again. The figure blocked and readied itself to jump back again, but Haru leaped forward, her kunai still on the figure's. She managed to slam it into a tree, and Kakashi finally saw its face clearly.

It was male, black hair, and his name was Uchiha Itachi.

Haru appeared to have noticed the person's identity as well, for she said, "You! What are you doing here?!"

Itachi chuckled before pushing her off of him and instantly reappearing behind her. Haru knew this, but didn't turn around this time -- she knew what this man wanted, and he therefore would not harm her. Itachi moved his face to her ear and whispered, making sure to drag his breath across her skin, "You'd think it was obvious…. What I'm doing here is, if you haven't already figured it out, kidnapping you."

He was right -- she had already guessed that -- but she couldn't help but be a little surprised.

Kakashi leaped forward and aimed a kunai at Itachi, but was met by another kunai instead of flesh. Itachi swung his knife out, forcing Kakashi back. Haru then spun around and kicked at the opponent, was blocked by his arm, and then jumped next to Kakashi. She closed her eyes briefly, but when she opened them, they were white again.

"_Kaigan!_" she muttered before tucking her kunai away and rushing at Itachi, hands up. She swiped, punched, kicked, and swung at him, but he dodged everything, knowing better than to try to block her. As she aimed at him again, he leaped back and closed his eyes.

"Don't look at him!" Kakashi cried, raising his hitai-ate away from his eye.

"I know that!" said Haru and darted at him again.

But before she could even reach him, an arm shot out of nowhere and Haru, not dodging quick enough, ran into it dead-on. A constricting pain rippled through her body from her neck and she fell to the ground, clutching her throat and coughing rapidly. Blood soon splattered the ground beneath her.

"Haru!"

She heard another clang of kunai and several thumps, but she couldn't get up. Thinking fast, she pushed her fingers into her neck and healed it the best she could at the moment before standing up again and looking for Kakashi and Itachi.

At that moment, Itachi had thrown the copy ninja into a tree so hard that it splintered, and instantly Haru ran at him. She threw two kunai and leaped to the side as he repelled them at her. Her feet landed on the bark of a tree and she used it to spring at him. He immediately held his arms up in quick defense, but Haru disappeared before he could try to block her.

Several moments passed in which Kakashi gained his bearings again and rushed at Itachi.

"You'll have to do better than that, Kakashi. Haven't I already proved this?" said the Uchiha as he pushed his attacker away again.

Kakashi smirked beneath his mask and put a good distance between them before quickly pulling out a scroll and performing the correct hand seals. Immediately knowing what he was up to, Itachi dashed at him as Kakashi's ninja dogs sprang forth from the ground.

Then, before anyone knew what had happened, Itachi froze in place, allowing the dogs to catch up with him and hold his body in place with their jaws. Haru retracted her hand from Itachi's chest.

"Your vision really is deteriorating," said Haru in a low voice. Itachi glared at her coolly. "You know I can freeze your movements, and yet you didn't see it coming? How pitiful."

Haru began to rapidly perform hand seals before holding her hand out to the side as if holding a platter. A white, misty sphere started forming in her palm.

"Itachi," she said bitterly, holding her hand back. "Die!" Haru thrust her hand forward into his torso, but not before seeing a smirk grace his features….

Something like a white explosion erupted from where her hand hit, and the ninja dogs disappeared before they could get injured. And yet, as it happened, Haru knew she was striking a shadow clone.

When the attack died down, Haru deactivated her Kaigan and turned to Kakashi. "We should get back to Konoha. We're probably running late, and you know how Tsunade gets…."


	3. Dream

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 3

"Dream"

_"Chiharu?"_

_That voice… who was it?_

"_Chiharu… are you awake?"_

_So familiar… Sakura? No… it was male._

_The voice sighed. "…I guess not…"_

_Naruto? No, it was a deeper tone than that._

"_Chiharu… I really wish you'd wake up. The others won't stop bothering me."_

_Kakashi? No. It wasn't that mature._

"_They seem to think that I know something they don't."_

_Sasuke? …Yes, it had to be Sasuke. Definitely._

"_Naruto wants to come in here and just shake you awake… the dolt."_

_Haru tried to see him, but her eyes wouldn't open… she was so, so exhausted._

"_Sakura is trying to look up medical jutsu, but she doesn't know a thing about it so it's not like it'll help any."_

_Why was she so tired?_

"_Kakashi-sensei comes in here and watches you a lot. Either that or he's reading that book… I'm not too sure."_

… _What happened?_

"_Inari and his mom are worried that if you don't wake up soon, you'll… never wake up. Tsunami said that Haku might have torn your spinal cord… but she's not sure."_

_Oh…. Haru's mind reflected on the events within the ice mirrors in rapid flashes. She remembered traveling to the Mist Village to inquire as to why Kakashi's team was taking so long to get back; how when she came across the bridge to discover a boy named Haku trapping and showering needles upon Naruto and Sasuke; how she had jumped in to defend them and stood in Haku's path as he rushed at her teammates; how he had punched her in the stomach, her most sensitive spot, upon catching her off guard; how she had been half-unconscious because of that; how she awoke to find Sasuke protecting her and an unconscious Naruto; how she had rushed at Haku in a fury but was stabbed in the stomach with three of his needles; how she had screamed and fainted again…._

"_Tazuna finished the bridge yesterday… he said he wants to name it something special, but he doesn't know what, yet."_

_Why was Sasuke talking to her like this? If he thought she was asleep, then…._

"… _Chiharu… nobody knows what to do. Everyone is worried about you."_

_She tried to speak, but her mouth wouldn't even open. She made a sort of sigh, though…._

"_Even I… in a way… "_

_He was stuttering, in such a way reminiscent to the days when he was eight years old, and looking up to his brother with a smile. She tried again. Her lips parted._

"_Never mind."_

_Sasuke sighed, but she didn't hear him move. She tried again. She could feel her vocal chords push._

"…"

_She tried again… _almost_…._

"_I wish you would wake up, Chiharu."_

"… _S-… Sasuke…"_

_She heard him gasp. "Wha-?"_

"_I… am… awake."_

"…_Did you hear me?"_

"_All of it… and… don't worry… I'm already healed."_

"_But-- what? … how?"_

"…"

"…"

"… _Doesn't matter."_

--

Haru's eyes slid open. She blinked, and then she smirked. That memory was the beginning of so much more… it seemed amazing that Haru could still remember it all.

She sat up and took in her surroundings: the bedroom of her apartment. She rubbed her eyes and stood up, starting her morning stretches.

It truly was amazing how she had kept those memories from three and a half years ago, when she had first met Naruto and Sakura; when she had met Sasuke for the first time in years. She was so accustomed to sorting through her memories and locking certain ones away -- she had thought that one might have been lost.

Then again, she had memories she could never think to lock away from three years ago. Such as, when she first saw Kakashi after weeks of him being on missions. Or when she had gotten to show off her abilities a little bit to help Kakashi train his team. Or even when she was on the trip back to Konoha with them.

Haru gave one last pull on her leg and walked to the kitchen for breakfast. She still missed being in the Village Hidden in the Mist, with Tsunami and Inari, who had given her a feeling of home again. But she knew that it was useless missing them, since she had no idea if she would ever see them, so she halted her thoughts at that point and decided to make ramen.

At 8:52 am, Haru left the apartment and walked to the Hokage's. Tsunade had said that she wanted to talk to Haru, and that she would have the rest of Team 7 there as well. Haru guessed that Tsunade had another mission for them.

_But… Tsunade doesn't normally call our team in for a mission after this little time, especially if our last mission had something to do with Akatsuki… _she thought. _Hm… what _does_ the Hokage want?_

Haru then assumed that it was a meeting of some sort, but wondered why Tsunade said that only _her_ team was coming, when meetings usually involved more people than that. But then again, Tsunade didn't usually say what she ulterior-ly wanted from people in her messages, which _was_ smart, seeing as there were a lot of ninja who might have enough guts to intercept it. In the end, Haru decided that she really had no idea what Tsunade wanted from them, and would not find out until talking to the Hokage herself. No use in wasting energy over figuring it out.

When Haru knocked on the Hokage's door at 9 o'clock sharp, a voice said "Enter" from inside and she did so, closing the door behind her. Besides the Hokage herself, Team 7 and the Hokage's assistant, Shizune, were present in the office.

"Hey, Haru! You're right on time!" exclaimed Naruto as said kunoichi stood next to Kakashi.

"I tend to do that," she replied, and Tsunade began to speak.

"Alright," said Lady Hokage. "I've called all of you here because of some… disastrous news I received early this morning. A messenger from Grass came to tell me that his village was attacked by a member of the Akatsuki at midnight this morning."

"What?!" yelled Naruto immediately. "Who was it?! Do we know them?"

"I have been led to believe that it was the same ninja that kidnapped the Kazekage months ago." Tsunade took a long swig from her sake bottle and rested her arm on her newly-cleaned desk.

"No way…" Sakura muttered.

"Was there a particular motive?" inquired Haru, crossing her arms.

"Not that I've heard."

"Hmm…" murmured Haru and the room grew quiet. After some moments, she continued with, "This makes no sense! It's like they're just attacking random villages now."

"No," said Kakashi as he rubbed his chin in thought. "They're attacking all of the ninja villages. Did he attack the Kage directly or just some part of the village?"

"It was in the market district," replied Shizune as she looked over a clipboard, "and the messenger said there were several small explosions in random parts before the attacker actually showed up. He was riding a white bird made out of what seemed to be clay."

"Yes," said Haru, closing her eyes. She began to pace. "That sounds just like him…."

"What?" asked Naruto as he took a step forward.

"Nothing, nothing…" she muttered and waved a hand at him.

"Why would they be attacking Grass, though?" inquired Sakura, her eyes narrowed in confusion. "I mean to say, I can see them attacking Sand, since it's such a big and prosperous country, but the Akatsuki doesn't have anything to do with the Grass village… do they?"

Haru's eyes shot open and she stopped in her tracks. "Did Deidara take anyone with him as he left?"

Shizune frowned. "Deidara…?"

"Yes, the man that attacked!"

"Oh, um…" she mumbled, and scanned the clipboard quickly. "…The messenger said that a few villagers saw him fly away with something that may have been a single body, but there was too much smoke from the explosions to know for sure."

"Of course," Haru said and started pacing again.

"Hold on," said Kakashi. "You don't think it was a--?

"Yes… that is _exactly_ what I think."

"It was a what?" asked Naruto.

"Well, this explains everything… but now we have another problem," said Haru, ignoring Naruto.

Tsunade nodded. "How are they tracking them so accurately…?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Naruto. "Don't leave us in the dark!" Sakura nodded in agreement.

"The Akatsuki captured another jinchuuriki," said Kakashi grimly.

"What?!"

"Actually," said Haru as she stopped pacing. "They've captured two."

"What are you talking about?!" yelled Tsunade in disbelief. "The messenger said that he was sure the man only carried off one body, if any!"

"Right," said Haru, turning towards the female sannin. "In our last meeting you told us that Akatsuki attacked Sand. What do _you_ think they were doing?"

Shizune gasped as Tsunade began to speak again, her face screwed up in anger. "That's… that's… I can't _believe _this…."

"It seems that Akatsuki has been very active lately," stated Kakashi as his one visible eye closed. "We need to be very careful from now on."

Everyone in the room looked worried but nodded in agreement. Tsunade picked up a fresh sake bottle and drank deeply.

"Alright," she said as the bottle hit the desk once more. "Chiharu, no more night-watches. Naruto, you're missions from now on will be limited, and you'll have to have a full cell with a medic-nin…. And now how to sort out what missions are Akatsuki related or not…." Bitterness dripped heavily from her last sentence.

A knock sounded on the door. "Nice timing…" muttered Naruto.

"Come in," the hokage yelled.

The door opened and in walked a young Leaf chuunin.

"Lady Tsunade," he said. "There is a meeting in five minutes with the Elders and--"

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" said kunoichi shouted, thus dismissing the chuunin boy. She turned to Kakashi's team. "You can go now… and report to me at nine o'clock tonight."

-


	4. Interlude: Commencing

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 4

"Commencing"

Drip

Drip

Drip

Haru's blood pooled on the floor, gradually growing bigger, slowly soaking into her clothes. Maybe if she could find the wound, she would be able to heal it…

Drip

Drip

Drip

Her eyes were wounded closed, her arms dislocated and her chakra drained. No hope… none at all….

Drip

Drip

Drip

_So this is how it ends,_ she thought bitterly. _Soaked in a puddle of my own blood and unable to heal myself._

Haru was far past self-pity, far past hope. Acceptance and sadness was all she had left. Her teammates had no idea that she was even dying, let alone in this particular room.

"_This is a follow-up mission to your previous one…. Just get to the lookout tower that Kabuto spoke of and collect all the poisons. I need to make sure that Konoha has every antidote for whatever our enemies have, understand?" _Tsunade had said. _"But be careful… no matter how painful the interrogation was for Kabuto, he still could have been lying."_

Kabuto had lied.

They had not entered a storage tower.

Nor had they entered Orochimaru's hideout.

No…

…it was _his_ hideout.

Drip

Drip

Drip


	5. Fire

**Red Sun Rising**

**Chapter 5**

"**Fire"**

**It was difficult to stay conscious as she gazed into the fire.**

**The five-cell team had been traveling for a rather long time by now, and had chosen a small clearing to camp in for the night. Each member of the team had to take watch for an hour and a half, and it was now Haru's turn, who, unlike Kakashi, spent it staring into the fire instead of doing something supposedly productive like reading.**

**It was actually kind of funny, that flame, because fire usually reminded Haru of Sasuke. But tonight, she could only think of his brother, Itachi, and that was probably the reason that Haru was having a hard time staying awake. When she thought of Itachi, she remembered how he would always force her into sleep with his Mangekyou Sharingan when they had… **_**missions **_**together. It had been rather annoying, but she eventually got use to it.**

**And then Haru's eyes drifted closed as the Sharingan floated in her mind for what had to be the fiftieth time that night.**

**She **_**hated **_**Uchiha Itachi.**

**--**

_**Chiharu's pen was almost soundless as it ran over a page in her notebook. She had made some observations on Itachi's Sharingan out of pure boredom, and, in her fascination with the stunning bloodline trait, had felt the urge to record her observations -- with Itachi's given permission, of course.**_

_**Said Missing Nin sat across from her in the den of Akatsuki's temporary meeting place now, leaned back casually yet with his distinct, natural formality. They sat in black leather chairs opposite each other, a fireplace on Itachi's left. His expression was one of mild interest as he watched her hand glide along the paper.**_

_**"May I ask you something, Chiharu-san?" he said in pure velvet. His eyes were coal black this hour.**_

_**Haru shrugged, still not quite used to having her full name used all the time. "I wouldn't mind, but I don't guarantee that you'll like what you hear."**_

_**He nodded slightly. "Why is it that you are so interested in learning ninja biology? You must already know so much."**_

_**She blinked unconsciously at his reference and mulled over his question a little, turning it over in her mind, looking for the easiest answer. After a few moments, in which Itachi waited patiently, she said, "That's just it. I only know so much." She paused and mentally turned the question over a few more times. "The more I learn, the more I can understand the activities of the ninja body. With understanding comes a quicker response to the stranger wounds." She hesitated. "With this knowledge, I become stronger. I become more... powerful." There. There was no way that he could misinterpret **_**that**_**.**_

_**"Strength... power... we all seem to reach for those traits as ninjas. But is it really so honorable that one would sacrifice valuable time for it? And in vain...?" He said this and mused over his own words.**_

_**Haru's brows pulled together. "Since when was the Akatsuki **_**honorable**_**?"**_

_**Itachi smirked, the phantom of a smile. "Since I arrived."**_

_**"Scary," said Haru, her eyebrows twitching upwards.**_

_**"And what is so 'scary' about that?" He questioned, one elegant brow rising in curiosity. He was standing, now, ever so casual.**_

_**Haru smirked unconsciously, her pen scrawling in the notebook again. "Sarcasm, dear," she spoke in a strictly mocking tone.**_

_**Itachi's hand was suddenly enclosed around her throat and she found it difficult to breathe. Her head hit the wall and it was this pain that made her realize that she was standing. Then his lips were at her ear, and she would have gasped. "Mark me, kunoichi -- Pein might have let you in on all of our secrets, may have given you free reign, but if you ever mock me, tease me, twist my words, or make insults out of my actions, your neck... will **_**snap**_**."**_

_**She blinked, eyes wide, and the elder Uchiha loosened his grip enough for her to breathe again. But Haru did not sputter and gasp for breath dishonorably. Instead, she took a long, deep intake of air and returned to her regular breathing patterns.**_

_**"Honor," she whispered, and Itachi nodded as he finally pulled his hand back.**_

**--**

"**HARU!"**

**Haru's body jolted and she was instantly on her feet. "What's--?!"**

**The answer to her unfinished question came in the form of a fuuma shuriken. She ducked and dashed out of sight to take in the situation.**

**Akatsuki.**

_**Again.**_

**But there were two this time; one with black hair, one with dark blue.**

**Quickly, without thinking, Haru appeared beside Kakashi and began to help him fend off the blue attacker. This one didn't move quite as fast as the other, Haru noticed, but the sword he carried seemed menacing enough to make up for that.**

_**Samehada, **_**Haru thought, but she didn't comprehend it.**

**As she threw kunai at their opponent, Haru suddenly remembered something shocking enough to make her freeze in motion.**

_**Samehada -- Kisame… Itachi!**_

"**We're fighting **_**them**_**?!" she muttered to Kakashi as her body regained movement before she could get hurt. He nodded. Haru growled.**

"**Hahaha… scared, Chiharu-**_**chan**_**?" Kisame laughed as he swung at said ninja. Some of the wrappings on his sword flew off, revealing what his sword **_**really**_** was: an over-sized shaver.**

**Something pierced Haru's back but she paid it no mind; she was far too busy glaring and stabbing at Kisame unsuccessfully with a pair of kunai.**

**She was in a strange sort of haze… all she could feel was exhilaration, exhaustion, and bloodlust; nothing else seemed to matter except killing these men, and she couldn't even do that. Her adrenaline seemed to exist only because of fear -- her fear of breaking her ninja way.**

**Soon, all that Haru could smell, taste and feel was blood. The sad thing was that most of it was hers. She and Kakashi had only managed to give Kisame a few cuts and bruises and one long, shallow gash on his leg that didn't seem to bother him. In her peripheral vision, Haru realized that the whole team was losing. Sakura had been knocked out and Naruto was on his final gear. Kakashi was quickly running out of chakra and Haru was sloppily covered in injuries -- injuries that she didn't even have time to heal.**

**And when Haru realized this, she began to feel an emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time: hopelessness.**

**It seemed like all that they could do to remain alive was flee, but even then, Itachi and Kisame would follow. There was nothing to do, now.**

**Haru pulled Kakashi into the trees as Kisame gave another swing that revealed his entire samehada. She looked at their clearing in surprise. There was fire almost completely covering the perimeter of the area. Ditches and giant cracks in the earth were everywhere, most likely created by Sakura, and all of the surrounding trees were either splintered badly or stripped of its leaves. **_**Why were they losing so badly?!**_

**And suddenly, Haru realized with a sickened tremble what their only option was.**

**Jinchuuriki.**

"**Kakashi," said Haru, breathless. "I need you to get Sakura up here with you and then stay in that spot no matter what."**

**She could see his what-the-heck-kind-of-order-is-that look even with the mask.**

"**Please," she said, scanning the clearing once more. "I just need you to do this."**

**His confusion was still apparent, but, after a moment's hesitation, he complied.**

**Haru dropped to the ground as Kakashi returned and heard something crack beneath her. Ignoring the pain, she listened to Kisame ramble about 'chickening out'. She shook her head at this. And then she performed the hand seals that she had memorized not so long ago.**

**One fleeting moment passed, and Haru pointed her fingers at her abdomen and jabbed them into the seal on her stomach.**

**There was an eternity filled with silver fire and the moment passed.**

**-**


	6. What's Left

**Red Sun Rising**

**Chapter 6**

"**What's Left"**

**All that remained was instinct.**

_**Kill these men, kill them now, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.**_** The Gobi repeated the words like a drum for war, like a dying heartbeat, like footsteps pounding on water.**

**Haru could only see Itachi and Kisame, could only think of their blood on her hands. Rational thought was gone, and it seemed like all that Haru knew about herself at the moment was that she had three long, transparent tails made of her silver chakra, a pair of darker animal ears on top of her head, razor-like fangs, claws, grey eyes, and grey markings all over her. The sad part was that she only knew this because of what Rakumaru (what the Gobi called itself) told her.**

**And Itachi was smirking. He told her that, too.**

**So she lunged at the Uchiha and missed, and she swung her claws at him and caught his cloak. She lunged again and went through him, stalling his heart for only a second. As he regained his bearings (which didn't take long), she spun and kicked him into a tree. Still crouched, she disappeared and reappeared behind Kisame. She leaped and dug her claws into his back, tearing muscle, spilling blood.**

**She wasn't listening to anything or anyone but Rakumaru, but she didn't need to. She saw Kisame's extreme discomfort and took that time to reach into his arm and break it. Rakumaru told her that Kisame screamed as his bone shattered. Rational Haru wouldn't have believed this.**

**It was after this moment that things became blurry.**

**-**

_**"I need to find the Hokage!" said the chuunin at the main door.**_

_**"Why?" said the guard ninja. "What happened? Does this have something to do with the smoke over there?" The ninja pointed.**_

_**The chuunin gave him a meaningful look.**_

**-**

**Naruto and Kakashi were tense as they watched their friend with horror and amazement. Haru was… ruthless, wild, bloodthirsty… so unlike the real her. Or was this the real Haru?**

_**Please don't let that be so… **_**thought Kakashi.**

"**Ah!" Naruto yelled as Itachi kicked Haru off of his teammate. If it hurt Haru, she either ignored it or she had already healed; but then she was already crouched and fighting again, so fast that it was nearly impossible to distinguish one slash from another. There was protest from Naruto each time Itachi got her.**

**Itachi was still smirking. That was what really got Kakashi thinking that something was different from the other times that Haru had transformed. Itachi was still smirking, even after the gash on his arm, the scratches on his face and hands. And even Kisame didn't seem to be getting anymore exhilarated than he was when the first started fighting, which was extremely strange. Neither Akatsuki member was trying any harder to win….**

**And it was the last thought that struck Kakashi, that caused him to realize what was really going on. It was like what had happened on their previous mission; Itachi had had no shame in admitting that he was trying to kidnap Haru. He had known back then that he wasn't actually going to kidnap her. He didn't actually say **_**when**_** he was planning to kidnap her, either…. Meaning that what happened on the last mission had been staged, plotted…**

…**they were kidnapping Haru ****now****.**

**They were just wearing her out; that's why they didn't seem interested in winning the battle. All they wanted was to get her tired enough to faint, by which time they would already be carrying her off.**

**Kakashi could not let this happen.**

**They could **_**not**_** kill Haru.**

**Not like **_**this**_**.**

**Not **_**now**_**.**

**Kakashi was furious. They were horrible, horrible people, and he suddenly had the prominent urge to kill them. He was tired of constantly looking around corners to make sure that they weren't there, waiting for their chance to snatch and kill her. He was **_**tired**_** of wondering when they would come to take her away from him; tired of feeling that sickening churn in his stomach every time Itachi's name was mentioned. **_**He could not take this anymore.**_

**But what could he do? He was far too injured to try and fight, now, to try and stop all of this. His chakra was almost depleted, and he was too fatigued to think of anymore plans…. Dammit, what could he do?!**

**He had to save her… **

…**before it was too late….**

**-**

_**"Hokage-sama!"**_

_**Sarutobi beckoned for the ninja to enter his office. Why not? He had already thrown the door wide open.**_

_**"What is it, Ashikaru?" said Sarutobi.**_

_**"Hokage-sama...!! The Tasaki House... it..." Niki Ashikaru tried to catch his breath. "... it... and Chiharu-san..."**_

_**"Ashikaru," Hokage said. "Breathe, then tell me."**_

**-**

**Haru began to feel dizzy. Rakumaru was doing nothing to help, either, with his constant, loud chanting of **_**kill, kill, kill -- **_**she felt a migraine pulsing in the back of her head. The adrenaline was there, but the enthusiasm was gone, and the desperation was setting in as well. Hopelessness followed desperation, and after that, her head was so hazy that she couldn't even name what all was wrong with her.**

**She felt herself swaying as she continued to fight Itachi and Kisame, her vision not so accurate anymore. Was the Gobi's chakra decreasing as well? How long had she fought for this to finally occur?**

**Why weren't they dead yet?**

**After a while, Itachi began to actually attack instead of constantly dodging and deflecting Haru's moves. His kunai were cutting her up again, his feet bruising her in any available spot, which, to him, was everywhere.**

**And Haru suddenly didn't **_**want**_** to fight back.**

**It was like her will had slipped away in the space of a second, leaving despair in its place. Her body felt weak with the weight of it, her legs ready to buckle and force her body to finally just lie down. She almost wished that she could comply with that, but something inside of her wouldn't let her give up, wouldn't let her send up the white flag. This was all that kept her standing, but, just as her will had departed, so did this feeling go and leave her with a strange sort of numbness that increased the fog in her head.**

**Eventually, she simply stopped hitting and dodging altogether. She was so, **_**so **_**tired….**

**Itachi gave one last, lingering blow to her head, and black was all she knew.**

**-**

_**Ashikaru took a moment to let his lungs catch up to him before continuing. "Hokage... the Tasaki House caught fire and burned to the ground. Chiharu-san is the only one left."**_

_**Sarutobi looked troubled as he hung his head. "...It was the annual family reunion, wasn't it?"**_

_**Ashikaru nodded gravely. "Yes. ANBU suspects fowl play, though."**_

_**The Third Hokage looked up, his face aged and serious, his tone unbelieving when he spoke again. "They suspect that Chiharu did it?"**_

**-**

**When Haru woke up, she gradually became aware of two general things: she was lying on a hard, freezing floor -- like a dungeon of ice; and she could not move at all.**

**Soon, the pain set in.**

**Then there was lethargy.**

**After that came realization:**

**First, she was alone. Her teammates were gone -- dead or alive, she had no idea. Second, she would not be able to defend herself if anything or anyone came to harm her; she was too weak to move much. And third, she could not heal herself.**

**Haru had been kidnapped by Itachi.**

**That explained everything (as if she needed explanations now, of all times).**

**She wanted Itachi to just drop dead and save everyone the trouble of killing him. He wasn't worth it anymore. If he wanted to play dishonorably, so be it. She would not let go of her dignity anymore than she already had just for Itachi, if this was how it would always end. If this was how her life would end.**

**Haru realized then, that, with all of her ailments, without her precious people, she was going to die. There was nothing to do about it, either. She didn't even know where she was (and quite frankly did not **_**want**_** to know), and was too scared to open her eyes, anyways. So, she was going to die. That was that, and so be it.**

**A knot formed in the back of her throat as she thought of everything she had never accomplished, everyone she had never said goodbye to. She thought of Naruto, who was probably breaking his neck right now trying to find her. She thought of Sakura, who was most likely still knocked out because of Akatsuki. She thought of Sasuke, who didn't even know that Haru had ever gone on the mission in the first place.**

**Then, she thought of Kakashi. No matter what she thought or remembered, she couldn't guess what he might be doing. Had he given up? Was he too injured to look for her? Or had he already fallen somewhere, trying desperately to find Haru, because his wounds had finally brought him down…?**

**Haru felt like crying.**

**She had not felt so depressed, so weighed down by the world ever since her great mistake. She had known all of her loved ones for years, and had known Kakashi since her days at the Academy; and now they were injured and desperate, looking, searching….**

**-**

_**"Where is Chiharu?"**_

_**"We... don't know, sir."**_

_**"Then find her. I wish to speak with her before ANBU makes any more ludicrous assumptions."**_

**-**

**Haru realized then that she had no idea how long she had been unconscious. For all she knew, her team could already be dead, and she had never, never said goodbye… or anything else that they deserved to hear.**

**She was dying, and cold, and she wanted to cry so **_**badly**_**… but Haru knew that one sob would rip her throat apart, and by that time she wouldn't be able to stop. So she didn't allow herself to cry, just like she had never allowed herself to make a mistake; but, just as her ninja way was impossible, as were her attempts at holding herself together.**

**Haru moved her arm the slightest bit, and found out two things: her arms were mangled and dislocated -- it was her shoulder that moved her arm; she was lying in a pool of blood. Her blood.**

**After that, she knew nothing but agony as sobs and heaves and wailing consumed her once strong, now frail body. As she bawled, she spit and coughed, adding to the pool that was already gradually surrounding her. She cried for her team, for her non-existent family, for herself. She felt like dying, now. She would welcome it gladly.**

**Everything was tearing. Everything was soaked in blood, her blood; everything was slipping away and falling and tripping and spinning. Everything was pain, and cold, and pain, and pain, and pain, and pain, pain, pain, pain, **_**pain, pain--**_

**Hours passed, and Haru miraculously fell asleep again.**

**-**

_**"I KILLED THEM!!"**_

**-**


	7. Someone

**Red Sun Rising**

**Chapter 7**

**"Someone"**

**When Haru awoke again, her eyes opened easily, allowing faded light to engulf her senses. It felt like looking into the sun, compared to how she had felt earlier.**

_**Earlier.**_** Memory rushed through her. Once again, Haru felt the helplessness that accompanied her nonexistent knowledge of… well, everything. She had no idea how long she had slept, or where she was, or even how many bones were broken for whatever reason.**

**She felt stupid.**

**She could easily imagine herself as a small child, running down the street, dodging between adults' legs, not knowing where or why her mother had gone. A child not knowing or caring how she had gotten lost, or why nobody would find her and**_** take her home--**_

**She halted these thoughts. What was the point? They would only make her hurt even worse than before, whenever that was.**

**The dreamlike quality of her first awakening had left her alone and stuck in bitter reality, where nobody was around to hear her cry, or help her to her feet. She had felt pitiful then. Now, she heard nothing, felt nothing -- and still no one was around to rid her of the mute numbness, the tasteless feel of nothing, nothing, **_**nothing**_**, when before there had been at least a shred of hope. She didn't want this at all; she didn't **_**need**_** this--**

**--and then there were footsteps.**

**Haru's senses jumped, the gears of **_**something**_** turning inside her and giving her a sick sort of hope. **_**Someone**_** was there. **_**Someone **_**had arrived and was searching the halls, looking for a lost friend, ready to embrace her and bring her home….**

**Then Haru realized that simply because someone was there didn't mean that they were a friend of hers. They could be there to finish her off, to take care of a mission that needed fulfillment.**

**It actually could be anyone. Anyone was, with her luck, probably not someone that Haru wanted to see. It **_**could**_** be Kakashi, or Naruto, or -- heck, even Sasuke. Or… it could be **_**him**_**.**

**This place that Haru laid in might **_**belong**_** to him. She could be in **_**his**_** dwelling, hideout, whatever, in **_**his**_** room, on **_**his**_** floor…**

**Haru waited for the footsteps to stifle.**

**There was silence.**

**Haru could feel a person's chakra outside the room, above her line of sight.**

**A creak, a step, a squeak, a step, a click -- and there were shoes on the very edge of her vision.**

**"So you're awake," said a velvety, formally smooth voice and her heart stalled. She swallowed and winced because of it, but she felt blood rushing in her veins so it didn't matter. At the moment, nothing mattered but him….**

**Haru's last guess had been right.**

_**His**_** hideout, **_**his**_** room, **_**his**_** floor, **_**his**_** captive--**

**Itachi.**

**-**

_**"I need to find the Hokage!" said the jounin at the main door.**_

_**"Why?" said the guard ninja. "What happened? Does this have something to do with that smoke over there?" The ninja pointed.**_

_**The jounin gave him a meaningful look.**_

_**"He's in his office. Go."**_

_**-**_

_**"Hokage-sama!"**_

_**Sarutobi beckoned for the ninja to enter his office. Why not? He had already thrown the door wide open.**_

_**"What is it, Ashikaru?" said Sarutobi.**_

_**"Hokage-sama...!! The Tasaki House... it..." Niki Ashikaru tried to catch his breath. "... it... and Chiharu-san..."**_

_**"Ashikaru," Hokage said. "Breathe, then tell me."**_

_**Ashikaru took a moment to let his lungs catch up before continuing, his mouth set in a grim line. "Sarutobi-sama... the Tasaki House caught fire and burned to the ground. Chiharu-san is the only one left."**_

_**Sarutobi looked deeply troubled as he hung his head. "...It was the annual family reunion, wasn't it?"**_

_**Ashikaru nodded. "Yes. The ANBU captain suspects fowl play, though."**_

_**The Third Hokage looked up, his face aged and serious, fingers intertwined on the desk. "They suspect that Chiharu did it?"**_

_**"Well," said the jounin from across the room. "They say that it's rather suspicious that she just happened to go out before the house caught fire."**_

_**"Where is Chiharu?"**_

_**"We... don't know, sir."**_

_**"Then find her. I wish to speak with her before ANBU makes any more ludicrous assumptions."**_

_**"Yes, sir," said Ashikaru, bowing in respect before leaving the office.**_

_**-**_

_**A girl entered the office five hours later, chaperoned by Ashikaru. Her face was red, and her eyes puffy. Her knuckles were splattered with blood that flowed downward and engulfed her fingers.**_

_**Ashikaru left when the Hokage nodded to him. Sarutobi gestured for the 13-year-old to sit down in the chair in front of his desk. She complied but kept her head down, as if avoiding scrutiny.**_

_**"Chiharu," said Sarutobi, his eyes sympathetic. "What have you done to your hands?"**_

_**Haru shook her head. Her lip quivered for a short second.**_

_**"Chiharu," he said, his face showing more seriousness now. "What happened at the Tasaki House?"**_

_**Haru's face showed anger for the fraction of a second before she lifted her head, eyes flaming with hurt. "...What do you mean, 'what happened'? They're dead! What more do you want?" Her fist balled up, stretching the wounds and splitting her knuckles further, but she didn't flinch.**_

_**"Do you know who did it?" asked Sarutobi softly.**_

_**She hesitated. Emotions flickered behind her eyes before she finally did what she had looked like she wanted to do since she entered: she doubled over and bawled, muttering and whimpering about mistakes....**_

_**"Chiharu, who did it?" The Hokage was beginning to actually become suspicious of the young kunoichi that he had trusted for years.**_

_**"It's all my fault!!" she yelled, jolting up again. Her face was torn with grief. "I couldn't stand it anymore! So many memories... horrible, terrible memories! They wouldn't go away..." she said, wiping her eyes. "Every room was a reminder of what my parents believed that I'd done wrong... they tortured me... tortured me until I got it right…. They would stab me and make me heal myself in less than a few seconds before they slashed at me again…. Every single room... they injured me in every one!" She paused and sobbed. Sarutobi stood, disbelieving. It couldn't be so…. "It got to the point that I couldn't stand it anymore.... The beatings didn't matter because of my kekkei genkai... they hurt less after a while… but the memories... they were killing me. I began to dream of what they had done to me....**_

_**"So I plotted to burn down the house when everyone had gone outside... like they did... every year.... I set the timer on the explosive... for eight... o'clock..." she said, but paused to pull herself together again.**_

_**"IT WENT OFF AT SIX!" she screamed, and a whole new wave of tears pushed her down again. "I killed them... I killed all of them!**_

_**"It's my fault... all my fault...."**_

_**The Hokage sat down again, silent.**_

_**"Punish me… put me to death... I deserve it..."**_

_**Haru heaved, spilling her stomach on the floor.**_

_**"...I killed them..."**_

_**Sarutobi simply stared, his eyes wide.**_

_**"I KILLED THEM!!**_

_**"I… killed them...!"**_

**-**

**Haru tried to breathe calmly.**

**Itachi knelt beside her. "Heal yourself."**

**Haru didn't move -- a strange déjà vu poked her, reminding her of times at the compound -- but she closed her eyes in an attempt to ensure that she didn't look into the Uchiha's eyes. After all, she had already fallen unconscious twice since she had arrived; she was tired of sleeping. Besides, she didn't need his Mangekyou Sharingan to do that.**

**Itachi took her actions as a reply. Haru felt a hand on her back before she felt the pulsing of Itachi's chakra through her body. This shocked her. Why was he **_**helping**_** her?**

**"Heal yourself," Itachi repeated.**

**Haru was still amazed that Itachi would do such a thing, but she rolled onto her back and sat up, wincing minutely, complying with him -- she saw no point in arguing with him in her state. She focused her chakra into her right arm, healing it enough so that she could activate her kekkei genkai.**

**Itachi watched her as she worked, running her hand through whatever damaged flesh she had. She was surprised to find that there weren't as many injuries as she thought, but still there were many -- if the unchanged pool of blood around her was any indication. She wondered if Itachi hadn't secretly been **_**trying**_** to kill her.**

_**'That's not his way, though,' **_**she thought as she realigned the bones in her left arm. **_**'If anything, he'd turn me in to his leader--'**_

**It was then that she realized **_**why**_** she had been kidnapped, **_**why**_** Itachi had basically forced her to resort to the seal on her stomach: he was planning to turn her in to Pein.**

**He was planning to let them extract the Gobi.**

**-**


	8. Pathetic

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 8

"Pathetic"

Haru ran her hand through her throat and healed the last of her body. It had not taken as long as she had originally thought, but she still felt as if it had taken hours and hours on end. But, she supposed, this could just be because Itachi had watched each and every one of her movements as she worked. He seemed to either want to make sure that she wasn't about to try anything with a result out of his favor, or he was simply studying, which was normal for him.

A strange, nostalgic sort of remembrance hit her then. Itachi had always been the calculating sort of person, always the one who stayed behind to watch before he would try it himself. He had been like this ever since birth. It was strange, really. He could do something that he'd never been able to do before perfectly after watching someone do it only once or twice. He never even had to practice. Everything seemed to be second nature to him, no matter if someone in his family before had the ability or not.

_He's… like a sponge,_ Haru thought, but upon realizing how absurd that sounded in reference to _him_, she decided that she was still tired, or had had too much sleep.

She looked at him, almost staring, almost glancing. His eyes were black, his face devoid of emotion -- _of course _-- except for a small trace of boredom.

She wanted to go home.

-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN'T GO AFTER HER?!" Naruto shouted, his palms colliding with the top of the desk. Everyone in the room jumped, startled at this. It had been rather sudden; he hadn't said a thing since they arrived in the office, and now he was shouting….

"Naruto, please," said the Hokage after quickly recovering from the outburst. _This wasn't unexpected,_ she thought, thinking on how the tensions in the room had been gradually escalating since the beginning. "I know this is hard for you, but--"

"NO!" yelled Naruto. She thought she saw a tint of red in his eyes…. "You obviously _don't_ know! She's our friend! We're not just going to _leave_ her there with that _monster_!!"

"There is nothing we can do, Naruto! Every ninja in Konoha wants to bring her back. She is part of Konoha and we will try to protect her no matter what, Naruto, but until we get another lead on the whereabouts of Uchiha Itachi's hideout, we can't take any action. It would only be a wild goose chase."

Naruto growled. "Well I'm not giving up! _I will bring her back!!_"

Tsunade stared at him, her eyes firm and intense, but sympathetic. She should have known that Naruto would react like this. He had already lost Sasuke -- of course he would try even harder to bring Haru back. He didn't want to lose another comrade.

"Naruto," said Lady Tsunade. "I know that you would give anything right now to get her back, but you have to--"

"No," Naruto growled, lower than before. "I don't want to hear it. I'm going after her right now, and if any of you truly want her back, then you'd come with me." And Naruto turned and left, clenching his fists so hard that his palms bled.

-

"It'll never stop, will it?" Haru said, her fingers lingering on her arms, tracing veins and bones. She must have looked pathetic.

Itachi looked at her, blank as always except for a tinge of curiosity.

Her grip tightened on herself.

Itachi stood and walked to the fire, his back to her. "...That depends on the situation…."

She looked at his back, glaring tiredly. Ever since she had healed herself that morning -- with the help from Itachi-- she had been ridiculously exhausted, which was strange. Haru never became tired after healing herself. But then again, Haru never cried, either....

She did not reply.

A long, musing moment passed before Itachi spoke, smooth as always. "No. I don't believe it will."

Haru expected this answer. He was right -- sadly -- but of course he was. He always was. It was almost depressing, actually, that even though he was such a devious, supposedly evil man, he was constantly right about everything. He was horrible, but amazing. Selfish, but loyal to his word. Anyone could find a thousand bad things about him as the next found a thousand good -- maybe two thousand, if you made exceptions. It wasn't fair. He was too complicated. Thus, he was the only person that she couldn't quite figure out.

And thus, life was extremely troublesome and stressful with Itachi.

Yet, a life without Itachi was a life on edge. If Haru had never rendezvoused with him in the first place, what seemed like so long ago and almost was, she wouldn't be as good a ninja. He had helped her -- and crushed her -- in many ways. He trained her in his style for "extra research" as Haru named it, even as Haru trained _him_ under methods to be smoother, and silent, and efficient. He silently taught her what life opposite Konoha was like for more experience and wisdom; for this there was no way to repay him. And most importantly, he taught her how to just choose not to care. He taught her to be ruthless, merciless, when there was something that she wanted.

But it had been too much. He taught her far, far too much, and now she was almost a threat to Akatsuki, and because of him. This benefited neither of them. Itachi had been pushed to tell Akatsuki about what she was, and the organization had now captured her, after only two years of her running away.

How pathetic.

Without Itachi, Haru wouldn't really have anything to fight for except for saving Sasuke, which would only last so long, she knew. In fact, killing Itachi was a dream that Haru had shared with Sasuke from the beginning, something that brought them closer together. If Itachi had never slain his clan, the clan that had been practically brothers with the Tasaki clan, Sasuke never would have befriended Haru. They might have even become enemies. Then, Haru would not want to bring him back, thus distancing herself from Naruto… which was definitely not a good thing to do.

All in all, Haru could say that she was glad that Itachi was who he was -- or that he existed at all.

But Haru didn't want to be glad. She didn't want Itachi whatsoever, but she needed him, in a sense, and it was this that drove Haru to want him dead the most. It scared her, really, that she needed his existence so much when she hated him so. _He had turned her in_, and yet she still needed him. She was going to _die_ because of him. Akatsuki would become even more powerful, because of him, and it wouldn't stop there. It would never, never stop. Not while Itachi was around. Not ever.

So Itachi was right. Not even after Akatsuki had reached their goal would it end. No, that would be only another beginning to a tale that had no closing.... And what a horrible tale this was.

Haru nodded, taking in what he had said, for there was yet again nothing to do. It had been like this for two hours -- Itachi had brought her into the main room and told her to wait, so both sat down in silence, neither intending to look at the other. After an hour of this, Haru had begun to realize that she wasn't the only one waiting -- Itachi was too. He was anticipating something... and then Haru wondered what it could be, but there were too many possibilities. So there had been no answer -- to any of her silent questions -- so she had waited because there was nothing left. While she waited, she thought. Her thoughts led to unpleasant scenarios, and then depressing hopes, and then....

"Chiharu," said Itachi, still facing the fire.

She looked at him.

"...You are going to die very soon."

She swallowed and nodded. _Of course._

A long, long moment passed in which Haru's mind became numb and blank.

Then he turned to her, face unreadable.

"Why does this not bother you?"

Haru stared. "It does, actually. A lot."

"Then you must be very good at concealing those emotions."

"No, I'm just imitating you."

She expected her head to hit the wall, her throat to be crushed, so she braced herself instinctively. She wanted him to do that. It would make her feel less numb, maybe take her mind off of her death again, but...

…Nothing happened.

Then, "How… contradicting."

She must have looked confused on the outside, even though she felt surprised.

"You're always changing, yet you're always the same," he went on. "Nostalgic, is it not?"

"Almost," she muttered. She realized then that her hands were cutting off the circulation to her arms -- she had never let go from when she had broken the two-hour silence. She stretched her fingers and intertwined them in her lap.

"Hm," Itachi replied, eyes dragged to her arms, watching the blood flow back to where it belonged. A moment passed. "Are you _ready_ to die, Chiharu?"

"No… but I'm accepting it." Her eyes slid to his again.

"Ah."

He gradually walked towards her, stopping only a foot from where she sat. He leaned down and placed his hand on the chair's arms. His face was very close to hers.

"It hurts..." he said, low, "...doesn't it?"

She didn't answer.

Then, he said something that completely contradicted everything that Haru thought of him. He said something that would not mean very much to someone who did not -- even barely -- know how his mind worked.

"It would not be an advantage to me, if you died."

Haru must have looked shocked, but her appearance to him was the last thing on her mind. What in the world had possessed Itachi to say such a thing? Was somebody using a jutsu to look like him while the real Itachi was in some forest somewhere, on a mission for Akatsuki? Was Haru dreaming?

"But you gave me no choice when you misunderstood me when I had first attacked you…. Do you still not understand? I was kidnapping you then only to ask you for an explanation, not for them. I told them that I would be interrogating you to get them off my back, knowing that it would leave me with two options depending on the scenario… depending on you." He paused, letting his gaze wander on her before returning to her eyes. "If you let me interrogate you, I would tell them about another jinchuuriki that I knew of. If not, then I would have to tell them about you.

"I thought you would have been smarter than that, but I can see now where the mistake was: I resorted to you first." His eyes were intense on her, almost as if he were using Sharingan and yet he wasn't, but Haru felt as blank as she had earlier. Even knowing all this, as good as it felt, she would still die. This was certain.

"What are you waiting for?" said Haru, despite knowing that it shouldn't matter.

"For the leader to call for us," he said after a moment, seeing that she did not want to discuss what he had told her.

Her spirits and hopes were officially crushed. However, she had one last question before she succumbed to acceptance. "Why did you tell me all of this?"

He did not answer her. Instead, he stood and walked to the fire again, allowing the silence to come.

Chiharu closed her eyes.

-


	9. Saviors

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 9

"Saviors"

"Any updates?"

"…what?"

"Are there any updates on the situation?"

"…Oh! Right! Um… yes."

"…"

"…"

"…Well?"

"Oh, uh, the jinchuuriki is still alive, but they're calling their leader right now."

"Hm…"

"She's not harmed or anything, but she's definitely out of it. But we don't know what the boy's doing."

"…"

"…I mean, um, the jinchuuriki is… shaken, and we don't know what her… kidnapper is doing. Yeah."

"Ah."

"…So…?"

"Call your partner in here…. Heiki's team as well."

"…'Kay! Be right back!"

-

Naruto leapt again, barely paying attention to what was going on around him. He could only focus on what lay ahead -- or, more accurately, _who_ lay ahead.

A week had already passed since Haru's capture. The entire team was already on their last straw with the situation, ready to raid Itachi's hideout if they had to. They were sick of constantly waiting for Haru's search party, sick of listening to Tsunade's lectures about why they couldn't simply "go after her". Naruto had even gone so far as to say that the Hokage was _full of crap_.

But even Tsunade was tired of waiting. They knew she was alive; it was not knowing _how_ alive she really was that truly sent everyone over the edge. They knew Itachi would not kill her -- she had been captured many times before without death being involved -- but they knew nothing else.

They were almost driven towards insanity.

_"At least Haru didn't go willingly," _Kakashi had said, something dark behind his eyes. Naruto could almost hear the subtext: _"Unlike Sasuke."_

But Naruto barely found comfort in Kakashi's analysis. It _was_ true, but that didn't bring her back. The time for words had passed, and, as far as Naruto could see, action was all that they had left. If they wanted Haru back, then fighting was imminent. That was simply fact.

"Naruto," Sakura called as she caught up with the kyuubi. "Can you see anything?"

Said boy scanned the horizon twice. "No," he said, his voice strained with frustration. "But it has to be close. The forest in this area is beginning to look familiar, I think."

Sakura sent him a strange look. "How can you tell?"

"…I just can." Naruto looked to the stars to check that he was still heading in the right direction.

Kakashi was suddenly at Naruto's side. "We need to stop and rest, Naruto," he said, his eyes holding a sense of finality. "We can't keep this up all night."

"No," Naruto said, almost growling. "I know we're close."

"But not close enough," Kakashi said, almost scolding. "Besides, if we are planning to fight Itachi, we need all the energy that we can possibly get. You know that."

Naruto sighed, obviously angry. He did know that, but… "One more mile--"

"No."

"Fifty yards, then! I see a clearing over there…."

Kakashi nodded, and they started a descent into the trees.

-

"Chiharu."

"…What?"

"It's time."

-

Kakashi sat up. Another rustle sounded from his right.

This was not good. The fact that _anyone_ had found their location meant two things: they weren't well hidden, and a fight could break out that might result in wounds and injuries that they couldn't afford, especially before an invasion into such deadly territory as the Akatsuki's hideout.

Or… it could mean death.

Kakashi perked his ears and listened intently, focusing on his surroundings as best as he could manage. It was silent again, but he knew someone was there. It was too late for whoever it was to keep a good cover, and any movements they made would be easily heard by the Copy Nin. He tried raising his confidence with these thoughts, and it worked… a little. Then--

'_There!_'

Kakashi sent three kunai into the bush that the person was in. There was a sharp rustle before the kunai struck dirt, and Kakashi saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He sprang to his feet and dashed in that direction, letting more kunai fly at the opponent. Another sharp rustle sounded, and this time, a shadow of a person leaped straight for Kakashi. Surprised, he had no time to dodge it, and he felt something hit his shoulders as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

When he opened them again, the first things that he noticed were two bright, blue-green eyes staring down at him. His eyes focused, and he took in the situation. There was a blue-green-eyed woman with her knees pinning down his shoulders, and he had fallen two feet short of their campsite's small fire. The woman had short, cropped, orange hair that stuck out in almost all directions. She wore some kind of high-collared, waist-length jacket that was white with red suns all over it. Underneath, she wore a neon orange shirt with a yellow hem, and black pants with fishnet designs.

And she was grinning, a thoughtful expression in her eyes.

"What do you want with us?" said Kakashi, maintaining a hard expression.

"Nothin'," she said, her voice high-pitch with 'cute' written all over it. "W-- I mean, heheh, _I_ was just passin' through when I saw the fire." She gestured with her little finger to the fire at her left. "I didn't mean to bother all of you…."

"Then why hide?" His eyes narrowed at her.

"I was curious," she said, her head tilting. Her eyes were locked on his one Sharingan. "It's not every day that you come across a group of nin--" She looked up then, her eyes flashing with annoyance first but quickly fading into innocence. She stood and let him get up, but she kept staring over his shoulder. Kakashi turned around. Shrubbery and trees were all he could see.

He turned back to the strange woman. Her brow was furrowed now, and she mouthed the word "what" to whatever was behind him. This continued for another minute before--

"Gukiru! Just come out here and say it! We don't have time to--" she shouted, hands on her hips, before she was interrupted.

"Shh!"

Kakashi turned around again, this time seeing a man with the same sun-patterned jacket as the woman. However, under his he wore a white, low-collared shirt and dark brown pants. His hair was brown and traveled past his ears by an inch. And, Kakashi noticed with slight surprise, he was blind. The white irises and milky pupils were a dead giveaway.

"We don't want to wake this ninja's friends," said the man, Gukiru, if what the woman said was accurate. He gestured to Naruto and Sakura in their sleeping bags, who were already stirring.

"Well, it's too late, anyways," she huffed, crossing her arms and blowing at her spiky bangs.

Naruto sat up then. "What going on…?" he slurred, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Sakura followed suit. "What?"

Kakashi turned to the woman who was now staring intently at his eye again. "If it's not too much to ask, who are you two?" His team seemed to gain focus as Naruto stood.

"Oh, um…" she looked at Gukiru questioningly.

He nodded and turned to Kakashi, his eyes drifting somewhere towards the sky. "I'm Jikuro Gukiru. This is my partner, Mika Usuiko."

"Partner?" said Sakura, standing next to Kakashi.

"Yeah," said Usuiko. "Um… we like… work with each other in Higure."

"…Say what?" said Naruto, extremely confused, as the whole team was. "Hi--… what?"

"Higure," she said, pausing after each syllable. She glanced at her partner. "Uh… I think that we have a lot to explain…. But first, you have to know that our main job right now is to save the jinchuuriki that Akatsuki just stole from Konoha."

-

"Itachi?"

"…Hm?"

"…Will it hurt?"

"…"

"Okay."

-


	10. Little Chiharu

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 10

"Little Chiharu"

Haru watched as Itachi slowly opened the door at the end of the hallway. They had been traveling down a long, seemingly endless hallway for quite some time, now. Silence had eased its way into their minds as their walk had continued, making it all the harder. Gradually, the situation pressed itself deeper and deeper into her consciousness, and by the time Itachi had touched the handle of the door that now loomed in front of them, Haru was, more or less, unhinged to the point of terror.

She thought about every stone that she had stepped upon on her way here, about every apathetic thought that had crossed her mind, every word and action passed between her and her captor, every person that she left behind back in Konoha--

Naruto…

Sakura…

_Kakashi…_

It hurt to think of him.

She had come to realize -- more calmly, however, than she was now -- how important her friends were to her; how much her special person meant to her, all in all.

In fact, during her time spent in the confines of Itachi's hideout, she had realized who exactly her special person was. Who it was that she had been fighting for all this time. The person that she had known for seventeen years as a friend, as a teacher…. The person that meant so, _so_ much to her, whom she would give her life for any day.

And she could never see him again.

He would always be the one that occupied her thoughts to the point of taunting. He would always be the one that she left behind. The one she had abandoned with the guilt of her death on his shoulders forevermore, and there would never be any way around it, no way to give him freedom from the pain that would, surely, destroy his very being. To make matters worse, he could never find her -- nobody could, because Itachi was crafty and had made sure that no one could save her. She would be long-since dead by the time anyone even had a chance of finding her.

Thus, she tried hard not to think about what he would do upon finding her cold, lifeless body, if he ever did. The pained expression that would linger for who knows how long on his normally carefree face, and all because of her small, insignificant death.

…Haru felt sick.

With a knot in her stomach, in her throat, she wondered when this had all started. When had she first fallen for him? When had Itachi's small fetish with her first ignited? When had she let it slip to… _anyone _that she was a demon carrier?

…And when would it all end? When would she finally be given her way out, her freedom, her ticket to whatever better place existed?

The answer came in the form of cavernous room, more like an atrium, that housed two humongous stone hands and a monstrous, nine-eyed face. On each of six of the fingers on the hands stood a figure -- living or lifeless, Haru could neither distinguish nor care. The only thing that mattered was her situation, not the setting of it all.

Then Itachi stepped into the room, and after a moment of forcing her mind numb, she followed after him, her unusually small steps taken against her will. She did not dare look at Itachi as she passed him, but she distinctly felt his gaze on her. She did not panic, making steady breaths to calm her heart, and she told herself that the only thing she had to do was walk and stand, and it would all be over, once and for all. Her friends would never have to worry about two jinchuuriki at once, or having to watch out for her every minute of every day. They wouldn't have to go through another kidnapping, having to deal with the pain of the unknown. And Kakashi would never have to waste his time trying to show her how much he cared about her (she already knew, after all).

All she had to do walk and stand, and, according to Itachi, it would be quick, and then all the trouble she could cause would be reduced to nothing. All she had to do was --

There was a sharp pain at the back of her neck, and darkness consumed her.

Haru was frightened.

-

"_Chiharu-chan."_

_Tasaki Chiharu looked around innocently. A tall jounin with spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes stood approximately ten feet away from her on the pathway, and she could tell by the look he was giving her that he was the one who had called her._

"_The field is this way," the jounin, Minato, said._

_Chiharu smiled brightly. Her first mission as a chuunin, and Minato-sensei would be the captain. Needless to say, she was excited -- but also because she would be meeting three new twelve-year-old kids that would be her teammates._

"_Okay, sensei," she said, skipping to his side and gladly walking the path to the field where they would be going over the mission. The field was actually on the very skirt of Konoha, and had caused many a conflict over ownership before the villages surrounding it agreed to simply share it. Chiharu remembered this from two years before, when she had enrolled in the Ninja Academy of Konoha, and it was part of the reason as to why she graduated so quickly: her ability to retain information was astounding and enviable._

_Chiharu counted her steps along the way. She had reached 102 when Minato began to speak once more, and she forced the counting into the back of her consciousness._

"_Are you excited about meeting your teammates, Chiharu-chan?" He said, smiling and looking at the sky, as he usually did._

_She followed his gaze, marveling in the great blue above them. "Yes. I'm very excited." She risked a glance at him -- still gazing off into the sky. "What are their names?"_

_Minato looked at her then. "Their names?" he chuckled. "Of all things you could ask about them, you want their names?"_

_Chiharu nodded, looking at the ground. "I like hearing the sound of people's names."_

_Minato stared at her, confused almost, before turning to the sky once more. "Well, there's Rin. She acts much like she's your age."_

_Chiharu listened intently. Rin… such a simple, yet sweet name._

"…_Then there's Obito. He's… loud… and very outgoing and… determined. Always trying to show off."_

_Obito… it sounded like it fit his personality well._

"_And then there's Kakashi…"_

_Chiharu looked at Minato unconsciously. Kakashi… it was such a… nice name. It made Chiharu feel… interested, for lack of a better word. She didn't quite understand it at all, but she found herself wanting to meet him more and more._

"…_He's rather quiet, but he's very elite. He became a jounin just today, in fact, and he's only thirteen."_

_A thirteen-year-old jounin… that was extremely unheard of._

"_You must be very proud of him," Chiharu said softly._

"…_Yes. I suppose I am," said Minato before grinning childishly. Chiharu giggled. "But that's rather irrelevant now. You'll still have to be introduced when you meet them…"_

_They came to a small clearing in the pathway. On the other side, Chiharu could see a vast expanse of grass and gently rolling hills. Instinctively, she knew that this was the field where they would go over their mission._

"_Sens--"_

"_Sensei."_

_Chiharu looked in the direction of the voice that interrupted her, and spotted a tall boy, probably around twelve or thirteen years old, with spiky white hair and a dark mask that covered his face up to the bridge of his nose. His eyes bore a cold, calculating expression that almost made Chiharu cringe, but she luckily kept her expression as blank as ever. His gaze reminded her of people she'd much rather forget about…._

"_Ah," said Minato. "Kakashi -- you're here early."_

Kakashi…_ Chiharu thought. _He's very… serious.

_Kakashi, however, did not greet him with anything but a nod, as he was focusing more on the small girl beside his sensei. He had never seen her before. She looked to be around six years old, but her expression was unnerving for someone her age._

_The look on her face was so… numb. So… mature. He almost cringed, but he knew better -- he was a jounin now, after all. But her eyes were endless expanses of nothing that hypnotized you into extreme interest, with a very slight hint of… sadness, was it? He couldn't distinguish. It was rather contradicting to everything else about her, though; her eyes were dark green in color, even though grey would seem more suiting, and her hair was a deep purple that hung messily around her shoulders and forehead. She wore a white vest without buttons or sleeves that reached her knees in the back, a turquoise hem all around it. Under that, she sported a tight blue-grey shirt that stretched to mid-thigh, and very dark blue ninja shorts with two kunai holsters on each leg. A dark grey backpack hung on her shoulders, fully packed._

_All in all, she looked… cute… but ready for pretty much anything._

_Minato-sensei noticed his staring at her and smiled. "Kakashi, this is Tasaki Chiharu. She's a highly skilled chuunin that the Hokage ordered we include in our mission." He turned to Chiharu. "Chiharu-chan, this is Hatake Kakashi. He's going to be the commander of the mission."_

_Chiharu's brow furrowed in confusion, and Minato-sensei chuckled. But Kakashi ignored this. "And exactly how old is she?"_

_Minato's expression fell slightly, but the girl spoke before he could. "I'm seven years old, Hatake-san."_

_He spoke to Minato, "We can't take a seven year old on this mission, sensei! I will not be held accounted for if she scrapes her knee or something and begs to go home. I will not stop to take her back. You know any little kid is just going to be dead weight!"_

"_Kakashi," said Minato sternly, yet strangely out of character. "The Chuunin Exams do not pass just any little kid. The academy does not dub a child genin if they do not think they are qualified. I told you, she is highly skilled, even compared to chuunin much, much older than her."_

_Kakashi glared. "I know that, sensei. But that doesn't mean that she won't complain. This is her first chuunin mission, isn't it?" Minato didn't answer, so Kakashi knew he was right. "Well, just because she has skills doesn't mean she won't bring us down. It does not mean that she knows all the rules, like any decent ninja should!"_

_Chiharu glared at her new commander, against her better judgment. She was so sick of people older than her telling her that she was no good when they had never even seen her in action. She took a step forward, ready to show him what she was truly capable of, when a girl's voice sounded from behind Kakashi, coming up the path._

"_Hey, you guys!" the girl said, who seemed to be around Kakashi's age. She ran up next to him, smiling a hyper sort of grin._

_Minato relaxed. "Rin," he greeted._

_In contrast to Kakashi, she smiled even wider at the sight of Chiharu. "Hi, there!"_

_Minato chuckled. "Rin, this is Tasaki Chiharu. The Hokage assigned her as a fourth teammate."_

_Rin looked confused for a moment. "…Fourth…?"_

_Minato wasn't listening, but instead had turned around to gaze at the sky above the vast field._

_Chiharu glared at nothing in particular but smoothed her expression out quickly and crossed her arms, closing her eyes to listen to the sounds of the forest surrounding them. She heard Rin talking to Kakashi as said boy simply scoffed, but she blocked them out. She heard her own breathing, steady but quick, and she blocked that out too. Then, she could hear the wind flowing through the trees, embracing and mussing up the leaves. She could hear it brush her hair against her face, making her vest billow out. The pitter of the creatures on the grass, the rushing of a small stream, the panting of a running boy--_

_Chiharu's eyes opened. _Panting? _She tensed, dropping her hands to her side, ready to release a kunai in their intruder's direction should the situation arise. She listened carefully to the panting, blocking everything else out…._

"_GYAAAH!"_

_A black-haired boy thudded to the ground and skidded a few feet. Panicked, with no concern about whatever injuries he could have given himself with such a stunt, he lifted his head and looked around._

_He had ended up at Kakashi's feet. Kakashi, being who he was, glared at him as the new-comer spoke. "Did I make it in time?"_

_Kakashi narrowed his glare further. "No. You're late… Obito!" The boy, Obito, struggled to sit up, and Kakashi made no move to help him. "You idiot! What time did you think we were supposed to meet? When you're a full-fledged shinobi, you're expected to follow the rules!"_

_Obito simply glared back. "Er… it's just, I was accosted by this feeble old lady with this big sack. She kept asking me directions…. I mean-- ow! Dust in my eyes…"_

"_Come on! I know you're lying."_

"_Hmm." Minato looked back at the two bickering teammates, almost smiling. "That's enough, Kakashi." He turned to Obito. "So Obito helped out an old lady. Are we done?!"_

"_I carried her bag and everything!" Obito added, applying eye drops._

_Kakashi turned his gaze towards his sensei. "Come on, Sensei, open your eyes. How often does he do this? Is there an old hag waiting around every corner?" His gaze turned darkly intense, but Obito ignored him to apply eye drops to his right eye. "Ninjas who break rules and laws are branded as scum! That's how it is!"_

_Minato laughed nervously, but Chiharu glared at Kakashi. How dare he say that to a sensei? If Chiharu ever did that, she would be forced to run twenty miles around the village. And Minato just laughed!_

_Kakashi glanced at Chiharu, but quickly looked away. She was glaring at him. _Glaring._ He thought her blank expression was creepy enough, but her glare… it was simply scary. But today was special. He wasn't about to let some seven year old ruin it._

_Obito rubbed his eye. "What, is your heart made of steel or something? I've had enough of your rules this, and laws that!" Kakashi looked back at him. "The key is in maintaining self-control!"_

_Rin held her hands up, pleading and almost desperate. This obviously happened quite often. "Okay, guys, break it up. We're all teammates here."_

_But she had no effect on Kakashi. He turned his glare towards her. "Rin, you go too easy on Obito…. Remember, today's also my special day…."_

_She giggled. "Ur… right…"_

_Obito was utterly confused. "Uh, what was it again…?"_

_Chiharu looked at him blankly. He hadn't even noticed her yet… it was funny. But Minato gestured to the four of them to follow him, so she simply shook her head and walked to Minato's side. They began to travel into the field._

"_Hey…" Obito said. Chiharu knew what he was going to say, realizing she had thought too soon. "Uh, sensei? Who's the little girl?"_

_Chiharu twitched, but ignored it. It was bound to happen. "My name is Tasaki Chiharu. I'm a seven year old chuunin assigned to this team by the Hokage."_

_He was silent for a moment. "Oh… huh. Well, I'm Obito." Chiharu nodded, but kept walking. "Hey… Chiharu. D'you mind if I just call you… 'Haru'?"_

_Her step hitched slightly, and she blushed. "…Whatever."_

"_Okay…"_

_Minato chuckled._

"_Hey," said Obito, after another moment. "What's so special about today anyways?"_

"_Well," Minato began. "Today, Kakashi is jounin, like me. For this mission, Kakashi and I will break off into two teams. That makes us more efficient. Every bit counts. As you know, Konoha is at the weakest it's ever been."_

_Obito's steps became more prominent. "Split up? You mean…"_

"_That's right," Minato said, looking back at his former student. "Obito, Rin, and Chiharu, you'll form a four-man cell, led by Kakashi. And me… I'll be on my own."_

"_Remember, we talked about this the other day," Rin said with a minute twinge of annoyance. "This is where we each give Kakashi a gift."_

"_Sorry," Obito mumbled, and Chiharu could hear the glare in his voice. "I must have zoned out."_

_Minato suddenly stopped and turned around. He and Rin presented Kakashi with their gifts, but Obito simply stood and glared. Chiharu stood back, watching silently._

_Kakashi held out his hand to Obito._

"_Wha… what's that for?!" Obito yelled, enraged. "I've got nothing to give you! Not a thing!"_

_Kakashi simply stared, only slightly glaring, but Chiharu knew that he would be smirking if he didn't have his mask on. "Well… that's all right. You'd just give me garbage anyways. Better nothing, than a useless burden."_

_Obito flinched, his glare turning darker and darker._

"_It's a mystery how a guy like you ever became a jounin!!"_

"_Don't talk to me that way!"_

_Minato gave Kakashi a stern look, but he was looking at Obito, who was literally shaking with anger._

"_I AM OBITO OF THE UCHIHA CLAN!" Obito yelled, raising his fist in the air. "You'll see -- I'm gonna blaze past you!!" He tilted his head forward, eyes glinting with fury and determination. "Just wait 'til my Sharingan awakens!"_

_Kakashi was not fazed in the least by his teammate's outburst. "The Uchiha Clan is made up of elites… right?" he said, scolding. "With that kind of breeding, shouldn't you be great already?"_

"_Whaat…?!"_

_Rin was sweating. "Guys… please stop!"_

_Minato glared slightly. "Umm… if we're all done, can I explain the mission now? We're already pretty close to the border."_

_The three teenagers looked at him in surprise. They had almost forgotten he was there. Chiharu just glared at them -- all three of them were acting completely stupid._

"_Let's get moving, then," Minato said calmly._

_The team began to walk again, but in silence. They were going to stop at a flat rock that Minato had pointed out earlier to go over the mission, but the rock was still a ways away. And somehow, Chiharu had ended up walking next to Kakashi a good ten or so feet behind the rest of the team._

_Chiharu glared, refusing to acknowledge him. It was childish, she knew, but her parents weren't out here. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them._

_Kakashi, on the other hand, had his attention fully on her. He could not figure Chiharu out…. One minute she giggling with his sensei, the next she's staring and glaring creepily at him, and the next she's peacefully listening to the sounds of the forest. She didn't make any sense…._

_But then again, she was only seven. Kids her age were bound to be changing emotions every five seconds. It was human nature, really._

_But that then left two things unexplained: why was she so blank most of the time, like an ANBU ninja should be; and why did Minato go on about her being so elite? Kakashi could only guess how good a ninja she must be, but she was only seven! Even he didn't become a chuunin that fast. It took him at least two years…._

_All in all, he couldn't figure her out… on his own, at least._

"_Chiharu…."_

_She glared. It was bound to happen. "Hn?"_

"…_How did you do it?"_

_Chiharu stared at him. "…What?"_

"_Well, how are you able to be so… emotionless, when you're _so_ young? It doesn't make any sense."_

_Chiharu's face froze. She hated this question. "…It's not like I did it myself."_

"_Who did it, then?"_

"_My mother and father."_

_Kakashi was even further confused. "Your parents made you become so cold and blank?" What kind of people would want that for their child?_

"…_You can't afford to show any emotion at all as a ninja. Too many others would be able to get under your skin and destroy you. My parents believe that a great ninja shows no emotion, follows every mission to a 'T', and uses whatever they can to succeed. And they believe that the longer you practice this, the more perfect of a shinobi you become." Chiharu's face fell, and her voice became softer. "I can't afford to make any mistakes."_

_Kakashi was silent. So her parents shaped her into this… this thing, that they call a "perfect shinobi". _She's only seven! _he thought. _That's sick… even I'm not that emotionless around other ninja, and I'm a jounin…

_Something occurred to him. "You were giggling and glaring earlier, though."_

_She froze. Kakashi looked back at her. "…I'm… What they don't know won't hurt them," she muttered, and began walking again, bitterly this time. She looked at him, eyes almost pleading. "…Just… please don't tell them. I know that your family and mine have been companions for many generations… just don't tell them…."_

_He furrowed his brow but nodded. _Mistakes…_ he thought coldly. _The only mistakes I see here are the parents'.

_-_


	11. Means and Entrance

**Red Sun Rising**

**Chapter 11**

"**Means and Entrance"**

_**A sickening blanket of snow covered the remains of the great Tasaki House.**_

"_**Only one who stands on the very edge of memory and sadness," spoke the tall, blonde shinobi in an admiring yet dour tone, "can see the great, humble walls of the vast building, a dark stone grey in its few columns, and a quiet tan grey in its walls. Such a person could see the many almost-stoic brothers and sisters and cousins running around the porch and main garden (which at this supposed time of year would be covered in sakura blossoms), mothers and aunts and grandmothers tending the beautiful orchids, lotus, carnations, pansies, and snapdragons of the personal gardens by the narrow windows. This one person might see the eldest sons and daughters in the training ground of cobblestone and dirt, could see a few select children training in the elaborate inside training areas, because of their unique abilities that set them apart from others and them much, much stronger by comparison. This person, if he saw all of that, would have most likely remembered the easier times of the Tasaki Clan, before the great and sad disappointment that was the Period of Suspicion.**_

"_**Then, one who stood on the very peak of a feudal spirit and betrayal might see the youngest sons and daughters put through horrifyingly grueling training and difficult tests and trials for uniqueness. He might see the angry and weary stares of parents and grandparents aimed at one another, aimed at their children, aimed at their best friends, even at their neighboring clan. He might gaze upon pre-teens who have been pushed far, far past their breaking point, their blank, cruel, creepy stares passing them off as perfect, emotionless tools at the disposal of the clan and village. He might just see one little girl in particular who had been pushed so far past her limit that she might make plans to rid herself of the memories of mistakes, beatings for her mistakes, and punishment for her beatings. He might see the night of the Tasaki House Fire, which brought the clan face down into the dirt, lungs long-since failed for excess of smoke and lack of oxygen. He might see one devastated girl running through the forest, punishing herself in every way possible for her latest mistake.**_

"_**One who stood tall on the boundary of imagination and reality would see how deserving this clan was of the Fire, for they had committed many, many horrible crimes for selfish gain. He would see how the clan had volunteered an infant of their own blood to seal away and carry a terrible five-tailed demon, just so that they could use the poor baby as a sick and dangerous threat to any who opposed them. He might see how they had accused each other of planning to destroy the village; how they accused each other of letting loose a monster in a time of depression, loss, and destruction for the village, when they just as easily could have used their angry energy to help rebuild the village. He might see how two certain people had treated their child just to make her the ultimate ninja, to have created the greatest tool of the village.**_

"_**But any one man who could gaze upon this almost-endless heap of ashes and destruction and see all of those gruesome images and should-be-dark-fiction stories would **_**not**_** be a man that I would like to meet in my lifetime," the shinobi admitted dryly to her apprentice, closing the book that she had been reading out of. "Jiraiya wrote this, a few years before his… final battle… in a tribute book to Konoha. It was different, reading the stories of the village in his style, rather than what he usually wrote."**_

_**Her apprentice looked up at her in wonder through her pink tresses. "Did all of that really happen then? The Fire, and the Period of Suspicion? The Demon Carrier?"**_

_**Tsunade nodded sadly. "Yes. And you know who the Demon Carrier is, Sakura."**_

_**Sakura stared in confusion at the book in her sensei's hands for a moment, trying to think of any jinchuuriki that she knew besides Naruto. "Tsunade-sama… I can't think of anyone. The only jinchuuriki that I know are Naruto and Gaara, and Shukaku was removed a while back, anyways…"**_

_**The fifth Hokage sighed. "Her last name is Tasaki."**_

_**Sakura thought hard again. "Well, the only survivor of the Fire had to be Chiharu, right? She's the only Tasaki left, but… if she were a jinchuuriki, I'm sure she would have told us by now."**_

_**Tsunade turned to Sakura. "Chiharu is a demon carrier, Sakura. It's strange… but I suppose she only told Kakashi and Naruto, if you never found out. And I believe that the one incident in which you possibly could have seen the Gobi appear through her, you were knocked out."**_

_**Sakura was silent. Chiharu was a jinchuuriki! And after three and a half years of knowing her, she just now found out…. Sakura was, needless to say, shocked.**_

_**Tsunade wasn't surprised at her reaction in the least. Instead, she simply turned and looked out at the field of ash and snow, pulling her arms closer to her body. Under any other circumstance, Tsunade would not have been out in this freezing winter weather, but she was training her apprentice in the history of the village's current geography, something that she probably should have done in the fall, but had to do now -- if not now, it would never get done.**_

"…_**Wow. I had seen this field a lot when I used to take walks with my family, or with Ino a long time ago, but I never would have imagined…" said Sakura in awe, as she dragged her eyes across the landscape.**_

"_**Yup. Just think of how the third Hokage felt when he had to deal with the fresh remains so long ago. I can't even empathize."**_

_**Sakura nodded.**_

"_**Well," said Tsunade suddenly, after a moment of silence. "Let's go. I want to show you the Memorial Stone."**_

**-**

**Sakura stared in awe and anger at the entrance to the Akatsuki lair. Chiharu was in there somewhere, possibly having the Gobi -- and her life -- sucked totally out of her. Sakura almost thought, **_**Well, maybe it would better off without that monster inside of her**_**, but stopped herself dead when she remembered that, unlike Gaara's situation, they didn't have anyone who knew how to do that forbidden jutsu of Chiyo's; even if they did, nobody would willingly give up their life for her, and nobody was about to let their friend sacrifice themself.**

_**Our best bet to get her out of there alive is to stop Akatsuki before they have the chance to finish their jutsu,**_** Sakura thought instead, glancing at the spunky girl next to her. Usuiko was fidgeting in her hiding spot beside Sakura with the anticipation. She and her partner, Gukiru, had told Team Kakashi that they knew a lot about Akatsuki, and so they had been the ones who showed them the way to the lair.**

**Usuiko and Gukiru were two very powerful shinobi who were part of a larger organization called **_**Higure**_** (which meant 'dusk', in ironic contradiction to Akatsuki) that's sole purpose was bringing down Akatsuki and restoring peace to the unlucky people who carried demons inside them by keeping them in special protection. There were nine members of Higure, who came from ninja villages all over the world, ranging from jounin to various ANBU ranks. Their leader, Irihi (which was about all the information Team Kakashi could gather on him during their conversation), had sent Usuiko and Gukiru to retrieve Chiharu. Chiharu was actually the first jinchuuriki that they had been able to find **_**before**_** the demon was taken from her, so they were definitely going to do all in their power to save her.**

**Kakashi glanced to his left, where the blind Gukiru crouched, his eyes closed, obviously trying to listen for any movement within the lair. Kakashi reminded himself that he would need to thank him after this was over. Without him and his partner, they could have been too late to save Haru. But Gukiru had told the team earlier that she wasn't even in the room where the extraction would take place yet -- she was simply sitting in some dark room in the lair, unmoving but awake. Kakashi would never know how Gukiru could have **_**heard**_** all that, when they were fifty meters away from the entrance, but that wasn't his main concern for the moment.**

"**Okay," whispered Usuiko from down the line. "We'd better get moving and stuff before we miss our chance!"**

**Gukiru nodded. "Alright. Sakura -- Usuiko -- go."**

**Said kunoichi sprung from their hiding place and leaped to the entrance. Usuiko squatted down and slipped something through a crack behind the boulder, which blocked their path. A few seconds later, a faint **_**boom**_** sounded and the boulder crumbled. The kunoichi leapt through the entrance, and silence overcame the small group.**

**Kakashi counted out ten seconds in his head, and, right at ten, Gukiru spoke.**

"**Alright," he said quietly, before turning to Kakashi. "Should I go with him?" he asked, only loud enough for Kakashi to hear it.**

"**No," said the jounin confidently. "Haru does mean a lot to him, but he knows better than to mess this up."**

**Gukiru nodded. "Naruto -- go."**

**Naruto nodded quickly and leaped away to the entrance, looking around him for good measure before dashing inside.**

**Kakashi counted to twenty this time, and, sure enough…**

"**Ready?" said Gukiru quietly.**

**Kakashi nodded, despite the sick feeling in his stomach spinning faster and faster at the thought of what he might see once he finally reached Haru.**

"**Good. Let's go."**


	12. Enter: A New Fire

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 12

"Enter: a New Fire"

It was one of those moments where she hated Itachi for being right. Sure, these moments happened frequently when she was with him, but that didn't make her hate it any less. In fact, this one moment was beyond hatred. If it were at all possible to combine the values of hatred, horror, repulsion, loathing, betrayal, envy, admiration, draining, emptiness, confusion, pain, hurt, and another dose of hatred, then Haru would have just done it.

She had all the right reasons and more to feel the way she did, too. They were beginning to extract the Gobi. It felt like they were pulling fire from every pore and every opening and every possible place on her body, scorching, burning, singeing, _hurting._ And what could she do about it? Nothing. Nothing but live and accept it until it finishes her off. Nothing but silently cry as visions of her loves dance around her diminishing head. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't taste, couldn't smell -- just feel the white-hot fire absorbing her entire being…

…killing her.

-

Meanwhile, Naruto screamed as he launched himself at the first Akatsuki he saw, which ironically happened to be Itachi. His claws reached for the Uchiha's face but were kicked away and the kyuubi was thrown to the ground. Itachi slowly returned to the extraction jutsu.

"_If we distract all of them at once, we can completely disable the jutsu and rush Chiharu out of there," _Gukiru had said once outside the door. _"We just need to keep ourselves together. Especially you three--" _he had pointed to Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura _"--because the sight of her in there might just make you lose your minds. We need to get in and out of here as quickly as possible."_

So Naruto had forgotten Gukiru's words for a moment, but as soon as he hit the floor, he put the plan into action, realizing what he had just done.

"Argh!" Naruto said, but immediately put his hands together. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Nine Narutos appeared behind each Akatsuki member. In that same moment, Kakashi and Usuiko leapt to the spot where Haru was projected to fall once the jutsu was stopped, arms ready. And Gukiru and Sakura stood on opposite ends of the cavern, ready for the unexpected.

Gukiru nodded to Naruto, signaling that they were all ready. Naruto nodded back, intently focused. Then, every clone reared back their fist.

-

The fire was gone.

And honestly, it worried Chiharu -- why would it just suddenly disappear like that? Was she already… dead?

But then there was a feel of falling, a feel of halting, and a feel of wind, so she knew something was wrong. She wasn't dead, because she could feel the burning sensation of breathing in her lungs, and the ache in her stomach where the Gobi's seal lied.

But she miraculously found out that the demon was no longer being extracted, for she could smell what should only be hallucinations of her loved ones, could hear someone else's frantic breathing in her ear. She still couldn't see, of course, for her eyes must have been closed, but she knew that she was okay.

…She was _okay._

-

Kakashi wished he could take any one glance at Chiharu, just to prove to himself that it was really her that he was carrying, but there was absolutely no time -- they had to get Chiharu and Naruto back to Konoha as soon as physically possible, lest they risk Akatsuki catching up to them when they were alone and so few in number. It had been risky enough to enter the lair in the first place, but the last thing they needed right now was to get killed in the middle of the forest by Konoha's current greatest enemy.

So Kakashi focused on running and leaping faster than ever before while still dodging trees and anything else that might decide to get in his way. Kakashi led the way, Naruto behind him, while Sakura, Usuiko and Gukiru brought up the rear. They were still three agonizing miles away from the village, but at the speed they were traveling, it wouldn't take long.

Kakashi held fast to Haru, praying, hoping, screaming in his head that she would be fine -- and that she would awaken soon.

Then the kunais started flying from behind, and one skim on the sleeve of Kakashi's sweater was all it took to send him flying even faster, if possible, through the forest, more intent than ever to get far, far away from the cloaked group that now followed them.

But Itachi had always been faster than almost every ninja in Konoha.

Kakashi growled furiously as Itachi caught up beside him, knifes in hand. Kakashi leapt to the sky to avoid him, and could see Konoha easily through the trees. They were _so close_.

Apparently, Itachi knew this, and was attempting everything he could think of to keep them from reaching their destination. He jumped after Kakashi easily, catching him by the foot and throwing him to the ground. But both he and Chiharu vanished in a puff of smoke, and were revealed to be fifty yards ahead of the Uchiha with the rest of their group. Itachi scowled and chased after them once more.

It was Sakura he dragged down next as she attempted at knocking him out mid-leap. She sprung right back up and shot at him, fist reared back and flaming with chakra. Itachi spun mid-air and grabbed her fist as she threw it, spinning completely around again as she turned painfully with him before being chunked into a nearby tree. He pressed on, passing Usuiko and Gukiru gracefully. But Gukiru threw wire at him as he passed, entangling him with metallic string strong and thin enough to amputate a few limbs, had Itachi not used a replacement jutsu before flinging ten shuriken at the blind man and leaping further away.

"How rude!" Usuiko shouted, earning a futile glare from her partner. She squeaked and ran ahead of him. Performing a rather complicated set of hand seals, she shouted, "_Saiten no Kami Juurui!_" [Paper Animal Festival] Almost a thousand sheets of origami flew from her mouth, all in different shapes and forms of animals. She fell back, but her jutsu flew at Itachi, sharp edges and hidden weapons intact.

They engulfed him, stopping him midair so that Usuiko, Gukiru, and a battered Sakura flew past, almost mockingly.

Kakashi hit the ground, sprinting easily through the gates of Konoha so fast that the guard ninja at the side didn't even have the time to note the hair color, let alone figure out who in the world could possibly be running that fast into the village. Kakashi slowed down a bit, heading for Hokage Mansion while Naruto halted at the gates to explain to the guards what was going on and that it would be fairly wise to get as many skilled ninja on watch and guard as possible, favorably the really strong ones. Then he charged on to follow his sensei to the Hokage, leaving the guards in a distressed, confused, and panicky scramble.

It was then that Sakura, Usuiko and Gukiru flew past in a frantic blur, only serving to confound them further.

Tsunade stamped her last piece of paperwork for the day, sighing contently before taking a quick sip of sake and standing from her seat. She stretched exasperatedly, ready to finally get some sleep, no matter how early into the afternoon it was -- she had been doing those papers since noon the day prior, and she was well ready to leave the office and _go home_ -- to settle in with some different scenery.

So she was just about ready to scream when Shizune ran in, scared out of her wits.

"Oh, what now?!" Tsunade demanded, shoulders slumping.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune said, clipped and almost hysterical. "They're back! They're back! And ohhhh--!"

"Who's back?" the Hokage inquired, now slightly worried, but still mostly annoyed.

"Kakashi's team!! And--"

"What?!" Tsunade yelled, stepping around her desk. "Did they…?"

"They got Chiharu back, yes, but--"

"Oh my goodness…" she said sitting back on her desk. "Are they alright?"

"Mostly yes, but--!"

"Oh, we'd better get Chiharu to a hospital -- what are we doing dawdling here?"

"LADY TSUNADE!" Shizune bellowed, but blushed when she saw that she finally had the Hokage's attention. "Akatsuki followed them."

"SAY WHAT??" Tsunade demanded, grabbing her assistant's shoulders in complete disbelief.

"All of Akatsuki followed them here -- they're all somewhere around the borders of Konoha. Team Kakashi got in safely though, and Kakashi is with Chiharu at the hospital right now."

Tsunade's face was stern -- completely and gravely serious to the point of looking fifty years older than she was. "Get ANBU and all sannin on every corner of the village border; get every woman and child evacuated, with the exception of ninjas above chuunin rank; send notifications to every ninja on missions to pull back and get home, but to be on their guard; make sure that every single ninja is ready for battle as of immediately. We need every possible protection -- alert the Kazekage and see what he can do… this might last for a long time…"

Shizune nodded as she rapidly scrawled down Tsunade's instructions, but paused for a moment. "Lady Tsunade… just how long do you mean?"

"…Months, maybe." The Hokage walked speedily to the office door.

She turned back, an extremely mixed emotion written across her face.

"We could be at war."

-


	13. Unhealthy

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 13

"Unhealthy"

Should Tsunade look back on herself one month ago, when she had so grimly stated that Konoha might be at war, she would shake her head at herself for thinking too far ahead. She had almost overreacted back then, to put it bluntly, but to rationalize that situation, any sane kage would have thought the very same… or at least Tsunade thought so.

ANBU had kept guard around the village for two weeks, finding not even a hint of any kind of chakra or scent, or any DNA found around the wall around the city that shouldn't be there. A group of ANBU had even gone so far as to run around the entire country, covering as much ground as a group their size could, in search of any sign of Akatsuki whatsoever that Tsunade hadn't dubbed as the initial 'attack', when Itachi and some other Akatsuki had chased Team Kakashi all the way to the village gates. Not even Jiraiya could detect that Akatsuki was around during the weeks in which Tsunade was most cautious.

So, to say the least, the situation could not have been stranger.

Countless meetings had been held by the Hokage to discuss what could be happening, why it could be happening, what had already happened, and what could happen very soon, but they all ended in fruitless discussions on what to do -- which was little to nothing. Too much was unknown, and a village could only take so many precautions before it simply became ridiculous. So Tsunade called off the country-wide searches after a couple of weeks, and after three weeks, called off caution for Akatsuki altogether, and for once, the village elders agreed with her decisions.

However, as it seemed that the supposed war was a tad outlandish and most likely not to happen anytime soon anyways, there was still the matter of a certain shinobi's health.

Chiharu had been in critical condition during the first week back from Akatsuki's clutches. Tsunade had been extremely worried about her during that time, for Haru's body would normally heal itself in a few days, thanks to the combined forces of the Gobi and Haru's kekkei genkai, but her body was doing almost the complete opposite this time. It was barely healing at all -- Kakashi would be healing much faster if he were in her position, which was saying a lot. The doctors of the hospital were having a very difficult time doing anything about her, for not only was her body refusing to heal, but nobody knew the extent of what Akatsuki had done, if anything. And if something _had_ been damaged during the extraction, no one would know what to do anyways -- for when had they ever had the chance to learn about the extents and procedures and whatever else of healing a jinchuuriki who had, possibly, had their demon half-extracted? All Konoha knew of these things was what had happened to the Kazekage some months ago, which had been under an entirely different situation (being that he had been brought back to life by a forbidden jutsu that killed the woman performing it).

The doctors did the best they could, Tsunade helped as much as her abilities allowed her, but nothing they did seemed to help.

The second week of Haru's hospitalization brought many strange modifications to her condition. On the eighth day, all of her bruises and cuts healed overnight -- a confounding find for the doctors when they arrived the next morning. Tsunade's and Kakashi's hopes quickly escalated when they heard, but nothing improved over the next two days and they looked on at her comatose form in disappointment, wishing desperately that something would happen again. Then, towards the end of the week, Kakashi witnessed her eyes opening for a few seconds, before she winced and fell into her seemingly never-ending slumber once more. The doctors took a look at her heart monitor's history from that minute and found that her heartbeat had indeed increased while her eyes were open, but nothing more happened for the next few days, and whatever hopes Kakashi had accumulated during the few seconds her eyes were open were quickly extinguished that night.

After another week, Chiharu would have awoken for an entire hour, though incapable of speech, making Kakashi smile for the first time in what felt like years. Her body healed all the broken bones in a day, and then her skin started to regain its natural color, the dark circles under her eyes gone. Her fingers began to twitch every now and then, and her eyes danced behind her lids every so often, hinting at the possibility of dreams returning to her ability. The doctors had finally decided to just stand back and let her body take care of itself, since nothing they did seemed to have any effect anyways, and her body seemed to heal just as well by itself.

It was the next week that really shocked Kakashi, Tsunade, and the doctors respectively.

She had awoken for one minute, fallen asleep in another moment, and then started screaming in the next. Nobody knew what they could possibly do (but when had this ever been different over the past weeks?). The heart monitor blew a fuse as the I.V.'s flew out in a burst of grey chakra, and the rest of her injuries simply vanished. The screaming stopped as soon as it had begun, and Kakashi stood beside her, bewildered and wide-eyed, as she awoke once more, sat up, and went ahead in asking, clearly irritated, what in the world she was doing in a hospital when she had a kekkei genkai that healed her body for her. The doctors were speechless, and Chiharu silently stood up, picked up her clothes, and walked to the bathroom to change out of her hospital gown, mumbling something about coffee and mentally disabled doctors.

--

In her coma, Chiharu had dreamed -- only of memories, unsurprisingly, but at least she had dreams.

In one dream, she recalled the night before the extraction.

_Chiharu stood from her chair and went to watch the fire, trying to forget that Itachi was in the room. Of course, he seemed to read her mind._

"_It won't work," he uttered, leaning against the opposite wall. Chiharu turned around._

"_Maybe I knew that," she said, but it wasn't too hard to figure out that she had thought it would work._

"_I refuse to think so," Itachi said, and beckoned her with bored eyes. "And you should know better than to try and flatter yourself by thinking it. It's unbecoming of someone so powerful."_

_She walked to him slowly, and came to a stop a foot from him. "What makes you think that it matters to me now?"_

_Itachi would have nodded, if he weren't so naturally emotionless, as any "perfect" ninja should be. "You make a good point. However, I wouldn't want you to leave the world with such lies behind your tongue."_

"_Would you rather me suffer in some pitiful depression? Reality isn't always best, you know," she responded, in a tone that made her sound different, more childlike, but more mature. She was always different around this man._

"_That is true," he muttered, and his low pitch made her lean forward unintentionally. "Could you pretend for me then?"_

_She frowned at this. What could he mean by that?_

"_Pretend you're in a fairytale for a while. Pretend you're not going to die tomorrow. Pretend I'm someone else…."_

"_Why?" Chiharu asked, quiet, fighting the urge to dream with her eyes open as he requested._

"_Because that's all I ever could be to you, anyways. You might as well play along…." Itachi had somehow pulled her closer to him, and suddenly, Chiharu was also against the wall, Itachi's head leaning on it over her shoulder, his breath even over her skin. Chiharu closed her eyes. "I can only ever be a fairytale to you."_

"…_why?" she asked again, though her mind was fading to faces of Kakashi, and so many different situations she could be in. She sighed._

"_Because you're going to die tomorrow, and because whatever you feel about me shouldn't be felt by a Konoha kunoichi towards an Akatsuki runaway. In fact, what I'm about to do should be forbidden. I almost wish it was."_

_And Itachi turned his head, dragged his lips from behind her ear to a breath from her own lips, and then he kissed her, dark and miserable, short and everlasting, burned into her memory forever, because someone on death row should not deserve such torture from a captor and enjoy it._

Then, Chiharu dreamed about a simpler time, a year before her capture, a moment with such levity that it was surprising that Chiharu could even experience and recall such a moment.

"_Yo," Kakashi waved as he landed beside Haru in tandem with her steps._

"_Hey," Haru said, smiling a little at him._

"_Where are you off to so early in the morning?" Kakashi asked, hands in his pockets._

"_Training grounds… or the Memorial Stone if I feel up to it."_

_Kakashi glanced at Haru for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road. "If you feel up to it?"_

"_That's always been the case, you know. It's hard enough for me to visit them when they haven't been plaguing my mind all day, so as long as I keep my mind on training, I'll be able to pay my respects without… well…" Haru explained and sighed, her voice almost monotonous from the weight of her inner grief._

_Kakashi didn't know quite what to say -- who would, after all -- so he nodded and just walked with her in comfortable silence. Haru didn't seem to mind, of course._

"_Have you heard anything about Naruto yet?" Haru asked casually. But of course he hadn't heard anything -- nobody had -- but it was something easy to converse about, something that they shared like emotions on._

"_No, but he's only supposed to be gone for about a year more, according to Tsunade," Kakashi said._

"_Well, I can't say I'm not looking forward to his return, but when he finally does come back, I have a feeling that Akatsuki will begin to pick up their game again -- Orochimaru, too, from what I've gathered."_

"_True, but even if they do get going again, at least we'll have one of the most determined ninjas Konoha's seen in a long time, as Tsunade would say," Kakashi replied, watching the sky for a minute before turning his gaze back to his teammate. "But how about we forget about all of this drama for an hour or two and just relax somewhere?"_

"_How could I not expect that from you?" Haru muttered, chuckling._

"_Come on, I know you haven't had a decent cup of coffee in months…. And I'm rather craving it right now, to be completely honest."_

_Haru laughed out loud -- the first time in weeks -- and could already taste it on her tongue. She honestly hadn't had a single thought on her coffee addiction since the Hokage began giving her more and more lengthy missions, and she started to not have time to even act like a normal human being, instead of being the heartless ninja that every mission requires._

"_Alright," she said._

_It was common for them to take advantage of temporary peace, finding comfort in each others' company. Coffee just so happened to be the usual medium._

--

It hadn't taken long for Haru to escape out of the bathroom window after she had finished getting dressed. She spent enough of her time at the hospital during her short "off-seasons" of sorts from taking missions anyways; she wasn't about to play patient for another day. Of course, when she and Kakashi were in their little off-seasons, almost every other ninja of Konoha was pummeled with extra missions, meaning more hospital patients and the need of more efficient doctors. Haru was usually the medic nin called upon, for she moved through patients in a heartbeat. Tsunade often offered her a longer off-season to assist the hospital, but Haru always refused -- she'd take a week-long A-rank mission over a week of doctor-duty any day.

Haru walked home. She didn't run -- she knew nobody would start to freak out about her taking so long in the bathroom until at least fifteen minutes had gone by silently. Besides, she needed the fresh air of Konoha in her system again. She had been stuck inside rocky atriums, dusty holding rooms, and stuffy hospitals for far too long -- not to mention she hadn't been simply _alone_ for a long time.

So the question arose as to what she should do with her new found alone time.

The first thing that sprung into her mind was coffee.

She smiled.

Haru didn't exactly understand why her intimate love of coffee existed, but she did know where it had originated. A long time ago, when her family had been alive (heaven forbid she remember it too clearly), she had only been allowed to consume what her parents put in front of her, which was usually some foreign super-vegetable or bitterly-healthy, spiced tea that her parents had discovered on some mission. Even when she had eaten a sweet or even just an apple that she came across in secrecy and seclusion, her parents would somehow find out, punish her severely, and, in whatever way they could, attempt to get whatever it was she ate out of her system; this usually involved acts pertaining to the more gruesome methods of forcing one to vomit.

After her family was gone, and Haru no longer had anyone to tell her what and what not to eat, it _still _frightened her to dine on anything that was unhealthy in any way possible, such as candy, soda, bakery sweets, and even milk. She had to force herself to eat such simple foods as apples, peaches, and bananas and even they left a funny taste in her mouth; she felt almost guilty to go against what once was her parents rules.

One day, Kakashi, after seeing her practically starve herself of what truly kept a ninja fit, decided that he needed to intervene and teach her how to indulge once in a while -- it was good for the soul, he claimed. He tried chocolate, but her stomach couldn't keep it down. He tried soda, but she said it tasted funny and the carbonation made her head spin. He tried a hundred things that any normal person would fall in love with -- before he gave up and just took her to a coffee shop so they could both read in peace -- him with a large mug of coffee, she with a bottle of water. Haru inquired about his drink -- it looked just like watery chocolate, so why would he drink it? He offered that she try it, for it was not chocolate at all, and it tasted like… well, coffee.

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she fell in love at first sip.

Since then, it had become Haru's favorite thing to do on her off-season from missions to visit the Konoha coffee shop as often as possible, especially with Kakashi tagging along. On any day off, really, the coffee shop is where her friends would find her.

Of course, it probably wasn't healthy for her to drink coffee as much as she did, but she loved it too much -- as was the case with most of her unhealthy problems.

Her brow furrowed and her mouth twisted at this thought, and she entered the shop and ordered the largest cup of coffee she could, sitting down in the corner of the establishment and turned towards the rest. _Yes, _she thought, sighing in her mind, _that is very much the case with my life._

Her addiction to coffee was unhealthy, but she loved the stuff too much to give it up. Her infatuation with Uchiha Itachi was unhealthy, but she had been through way too much with him not to be in… well, not to care about him. Her love for Kakashi was unhealthy (for they were teammates, colleagues, five years apart in age, and had many differences and faults… plus he was an unabashed pervert, to put it bluntly), but she simply loved him too much to let him go. Her ninja way, within itself, was unhealthy, but she was attached to it, melded in it, and had lived by it far too long.

It was amazing to her that she could still function with so many unhealthy affections. But then again, those affections are what made her _her _-- and she couldn't change that.

She closed her eyes and took a deep swig of her coffee, not worried about how it burned her tongue and throat -- it felt good, and if it left any damage it to her mouth, she had nothing to worry about. This made her smirk. She opened her eyes again and jumped as a familiar face loomed mere inches from her.

"Kakashi!" she gasped, relaxing upon seeing his eye crinkle in a smile. "I wasn't expecting that…"

Kakashi laughed and sat down across from her at the table. "I didn't expect you to not expect that."

Haru chuckled and sipped at her coffee before mumbling, "How long did it take for everyone else to notice I left?"

He shrugged, laying his elbows on the table. "I didn't stick around long enough to find out."

She raised at eyebrow at him.

"I already knew you would leave and come here."

She shook her head at him, smirking. He knew her too well. "Well, it would have been funny to watch them freak out, though."

"Yeah," he agreed and shook his head. "Is that good? It looks different from what you usually order." He waved at the cup in her hand.

She nodded almost excitedly. "Mhmm. It has chocolate and raspberry juice in it."

"Hm. Sounds strange…." He crossed his arms.

"Try it! It tastes way better than it sounds," she offered, holding the cup out to him. This was a normal scenario for them when they came here -- Haru would sometimes order a strange flavor, Kakashi would comment on it, and then she would make him try it. Normally, he loved it (except for the times when she added some foreign spice to it that she had acquired on a mission).

Things were a little different this time, however. Kakashi wrapped his hand around the cup, as if to take it from her, but his hand also gripped Haru's, which was still attached to her coffee. He didn't let go of her hand, and raised the cup to his lips to taste the drink nevertheless.

"That's really good," he said, and put the cup back on the table -- without letting go. He looked up at her and smirked when he saw her blushing cheeks and bewildered expression. The sight was so typical of a woman to do that he almost guffawed, but settled for a light chuckle instead.

Haru blinked. "What's so funny?"

Kakashi shook his head and moved their hands to rest on the table. He lifted his from hers but took advantage of her momentary surprise to drag his fingernails over the tops of her fingers.

A shiver raced up her spine, but it was so small that she was almost sure Kakashi hadn't seen it -- and she truly hoped he hadn't. She watched their fingers in slight fascination, more surprise.

She was blushing even more fervently, and Kakashi just smiled at the simple cuteness of it. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at himself with that thought -- he had never thought of Haru as _cute_ before. Not since he had first met her who knows how many years ago, at least. He knew she was an alluringly pretty woman -- he had always known that -- but there were only so many things you could compliment her type of appearance with. Cute wasn't one of them -- well, until she blushed, which he supposed was a new development.

"What are you thinking about?"

Kakashi looked up at her in surprise, his fingers pausing for a moment. "Hm?"

"Your expressions keep changing -- what are you thinking about?" Haru inquired simply, but quietly.

He smirked. "Just about how strange it is that we've known each other so long and yet I've only rarely seen you blush."

Her skin reddened even more at this, and she looked out at the shop. "Well… you know it always depends on the situation."

He nodded, his eyes moving once more to their hands. "I think I should do this more often then," he said, a smile evident in his voice.

She sneered at him, which only made him chuckle again, so she shook her head, rested it in her other hand, and simply watched his face as his fingernails continued to feather along her fingers.

She really could get used to moments like this.

…No matter how unhealthy they were for her mind.

-


	14. Unveiling

Red Sun Rising

Chapter 14

"Unveiling"

Sad, that happiness is short-lived for those who lead ninja lifestyles.

Kakashi hated to bring it up in such a peaceful moment, but some things really needed to be discussed -- especially when it came to heinous organizations like Akatsuki. He looked tiredly at Haru's calm face -- one that he has known for about fifteen years, through calm expressions and grief-filled distorted ones -- and decided to just get it over with.

"Haru," he said, hesitation clear in his voice.

She looked up at him from where she leaned over the stream, hands cupped to hold the water she had been about to utilize. Hearing the tone he used, she sighed and went ahead in tossing the water to her face and wiping it off with the front of her shirt. "Don't worry about breaking the mood," she said. "It wouldn't have lasted forever, after all."

He rested his elbows on his knees, hands pulling up single blades of grass and ripping them apart, meditatively. "I know," he said, forcing his gaze away from her. "But it was a mood I was hoping didn't have to end like this. I knew, that if we didn't get it out of the way now, though, we never would."

She nodded, and pulled her legs from beneath her to face Kakashi in a lotus position.

"Is _it_ still there?" he asked, pointing to her abdomen with a lazy hand.

"The seal, yes," she replied, following his gaze. "But the Gobi… I'm not really sure." Her brows furrowed as she placed a hand over the area of the seal. "He's been silent… and hasn't even stirred since the _extraction_." She spoke the last word with a tone of sarcasm and bitterness.

"It's not dead," Kakashi started, watching her brow furrow further, "is it?"

"No," she said. "There's no way." The hand on her abdomen tightened unconsciously. "I think… he's in some sort of… coma, maybe.

"The real problem, I think, is whether or not he was half-extracted, or something of the sort," she went on. "…Gah, I wish we had information on this type of thing. …There was no damage to me, so the extraction couldn't have been more than fifty percent completed, but the Gobi isn't awake anymore, so it had to have extracted _some_ of him. There's no way of knowing exactly how much without asking him, but even if he was awake, I wouldn't want to have to interrogate him."

It was Kakashi's turn to furrow his brows. "I understand," he said thoughtfully. "Does knowing really matter, though? In the grand scheme of things?"

She lifted her eyebrows, eyes momentarily closing. "I suppose not." She looked into his eyes carefully, as if reading into what he was thinking to say next. "But it would be relieving to know," she said, distracted.

He sighed, deciding to go on casually. "You know we really pissed them off."

She laughed at the contradiction of simplicity within that sentence, though it was short-lived before she dropped her gaze bitterly. "Yeah, I know it," she said, quieter. "After all, this is the second time I've left them high and dry."

"Well, at least this time you hadn't walked in _and_ out of their clutches willingly," he said. "That should leave them with their ego intact more-so than last time."

A sharp chuckle escaped her. "True." She shook her head, and a moment passed quickly. "It feels like it was decades ago, doesn't it -- since that huge S-rank, I mean?"

He nodded, eyes widening slightly. "And boy, didn't that turn out to be a fiasco in the end."

She sighed, tired and melancholically reminiscent. "I think we would have been much better off if I had never accepted that mission." She seemed to be talking to herself after that. "What was I thinking…? What a mistake…."

"Haru," he said pointedly. "You know you shouldn't regret anything -- remember what Jiraiya used to say about that?"

She sighed. "I know. But after all these years of doing exactly that, it's difficult to suddenly not."

Kakashi sighed and looked down at his lap. One of the things he had learned about Haru early on was that mistakes and regrets made up a large part of her mind. It was a complex of hers, really -- though it was easily understandable, considering what her childhood had been like. But it still caused him to sigh, even after so many years of knowing how contorted her mind could get.

"Anyways," he said suddenly, turning his gaze back to her. "What are we going to do when Akatsuki comes back for you?"

"Well, they wouldn't come directly to Konoha," she said, watching the stream beside her with disbanded interest. "They'd wait until I was on a mission, or -- wait, what do you mean, 'we', Kakashi?"

He raised a brow at her. "I mean the _two_ of us, Haru, and everyone else here willing to protect you."

She groaned, running a hand through her hair.

"Oh, c'mon, now, Haru," he said, suppressing a smirk. "We're ninjas. We risk our lives for each other every day of our lives. Why is _this_ any different?"

"Because it's Akatsuki, Kashi!" she snapped, but her tone contradicted her unconscious nickname for him. "Things are always different when it comes to them!"

His brows stitched together, the suppressed smirk replaced with a small frown. "Why?"

"Their motives are _constantly_ changing!" she said. "I mean, it's obviously for some master goal in the end, but their strategy within that changes with every little hitch -- one target randomly changes direction and suddenly they've made an entirely new plan! You can't predict them besides the obvious limitations -- but Kami, who knows when Itachi and Kisame will decide to pay Konoha a visit again, or when Deidara will decide to blow up a village?" She took a shaky breath. "Or… or who knows when another tragedy like Asuma, or Anko --"

"Okay, Haru," Kakashi said, shell-shocked from her last sentence; grabbing hold of her hands and squeezing them in an attempt to wake her up from her rant. She looked into his eyes in a strange sort of shock. "I get it. But even when we _are_ dealing with Akatsuki, I will never be anywhere but right beside you. All of us will be there. …We're not letting them kidnap you like that again." He let out a small sigh. "That was too much for me."

And suddenly her face was buried in his collarbone, arms around his neck. Kakashi froze in surprise, but slowly his hands found their way to her back.

"Ugh," she mumbled into his shoulder, and he could tell by the way her shoulders shook that she was trying to stifle sobs. "I'm sorry."

Kakashi shook his head. _Geez, _he thought. _Being reminded about Anko and Asuma was not exactly what I wanted to hear today, but her crying is something that I would _really_ rather not happen. …As long as she's okay, I'm good._

They sat there for several moments as she regained composure and Kakashi leaned his tired head atop hers. "It's alright," he said comfortingly. "…You need to stop thinking about everything that's happened…. We have to keep moving forward."

Haru pulled away slowly. "Yeah," she said, low and half-bitter. "Because we're ninjas. We don't have time for emotions."

His mouth twisted but he found himself nodding in agreement, as sad as it was to hear the truth.

"I remember Minato-sensei telling me, a long time ago," she started, dropping her arms into her lap before he did the same, "that ninjas are horrible things." She looked up at the sky and squinted against the afternoon sun. "He said they slaughter, and massacre, and murder, and destroy… but that usually it's for good intentions. …That ninjas were born to protect the things they love, the things they grow up smiling and laughing for. They throw away emotion because there is never time for it, and when their career is over -- if by some rare chance they weren't K. I. A. -- they will finally be able to laugh and smile again. He said that it is a terrible, distorted, and mangled way to live, but now that ninjas exist, someone has to keep protecting and loving and fighting for everything. Someone has to keep destroying themselves for others. Now that the cycle has started, it will never stop, and it is something ninjas know, but never have time to truly realize or regret, hate or mourn. There is never any time.

"The only thing that I have ever disagreed to with sensei is what he said about time," she said, her face once again suggesting bitterness, but her voice held none. "I don't know why he said that there is never any time, when you're a ninja, because even _he_, as Hokage, lived lazily and always with a smile -- always acting like he had all the time in the _world_. I don't know why he ever said that. Ninjas have more time than we give credit for. We were just taught not to waste it, because every second of our lives could be our last.

"But I refuse to live constantly thinking that I'm going to die tomorrow. It's unhealthy, especially for someone who already has too many unhealthy aspects to her life. I'm done adding to the list," she said, closing her eyes and raising her brows slightly.

Kakashi chuckled. "You do understand that I've been telling you all of this for years now, right?"

She cracked one eye open. "…Really?"

"Yes!" He laughed.

A groan escaped her, but she smiled at his laughter nevertheless. "Well, you should be glad it finally sunk in, then."

He chuckled one last time and stood to stretch.

After a few long moments, she furrowed her brow again. "You know… I'm starting to think that they let me go far too easily."

He stared at her.

"The leader only sent _Itachi_ after me, right? Why didn't they put up more of a fight?"

"You're right," he said, surprised. Haru stood up with him. "But no jinchuuriki has ever escaped in the middle of an extraction before this. Maybe they were just shocked."

"No," she said. "They're quick-thinkers. But there's no way they planned that."

"Well, then, it obviously didn't cause them any disadvantage. Maybe they're outlook is 'We'll get her soon enough.'" He continued to stare at her.

"Maybe…" she said and blinked. The duo began walking back towards town. "But if so, then there is no way I can be going on any missions without at _least_ a full protective cell."

He nodded in complete agreement, a sense of powerful protectiveness washing over him. Unconsciously, he moved closer to her as they walked.

"This is going to really suck," she said in finality.

He chuckled another agreement, and they left the training field, backs to the sun.

--

"All I can say is that I'm disappointed in your lack of loyalty," Tsunade said, leaning forward on her desk. Niki Ashikaru stood in front of her, gelled back hair disheveled in an unsightly manner; next to Koreko Donamaru, a jounin tracker ninja whose rich brown hair was always messy, tousled, and in his eyes. _Such a shame, his hair, _thought the Hokage. _He has such lovely eyes and no one can ever see them. Hn._

"Lady Hokage," spoke Ashikaru as he flattened his hair down with a swift hand, fixing its previous disarray. "This is nothing of the sort -- we remain completely loyal to you and Konoha. We were simply protecting the village -- in order to do that completely, we couldn't tell you about Higure until the time called for it."

"So how is the time calling for it now?" she almost shouted.

"I understand your discomfort with the situation, ma'am," Donamaru spoke up -- the first thing he said the entire meeting, minus the first 'Hello.' "Having one of your best kunoichi come back in such a state is alarming. It is because of what happened to her that we are now allowed to inform you of the organization."

She sighed. "I feel slightly betrayed," she snapped in admittance. "How long has this 'Higure' been around exactly? And who had the gall to create it behind all the kages' backs?"

Ashikaru resisted the urge to flinch. "It was created two years after Akatsuki appeared, founded by Goraiko Irihi of the Sand village."

"Goraiko Irihi…" she muttered. "I remember hearing about him when I was visiting Suna a… _while_ ago. The locals said the Kazekage had put him on probation for being in cahoots with Akatsuki. Turns out he had just turned down some kind of offer from them, but the Kazekage put him in prison anyways. He escaped and was never found again. Was considered a hero among the people, though no one was allowed to talk about him."

Ashikaru nodded. "Yes."

"So you're telling me _he's_ the one who created this whole deal?"

"Yes." He took a step forward. "So now, we're asking that you continue to let us exit and enter the village of our own accord, so that we can continue to be a part of this organization." He paused, and took a deep breath. "Chiharu is a friend of mine. I was the one to report the Fire, and I was the first one to declare her innocent of it. I'd despise having to watch Akatsuki take her away again, when I spent so much of myself defending her, and having also spent almost all of my missions in ANBU with her as my amiable co-captain. I want to fight against the menaces that present threats to my village and my comrades, and for all of those unlucky people having to die for a demon they never chose to host."

Tsunade sighed at length, looking to Donamaru for agreement. He gave it. Then, she laced her fingers in front of her mouth. "And you're telling me that I, as Hokage, cannot even know what missions that Irihi sends you on? You're telling me that I have to let two of Konoha's most highly skilled ninjas out to their possible deaths, _and_ while being in the dark about it?"

The two men nodded, swallowing.

She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she stared at them with a powerful, intense gaze. "…You two better watch your backs out there. Akatsuki is unpredictable."

They smiled. "So are we," said Donamaru confidently.

"Alright," said the fifth Hokage. "You can go prance around with Higure." She smirked behind her hands. "But you'll be teaching Academy students whenever you're back in the village."

The men groaned collectively and Tsunade dismissed them with a lazy hand.

Once they had left, she leaned back against her chair with limbs dangling like she were a rag doll, and sighed. "Shizune," she said exhaustedly, as said assistant turned to her with a broad, knowing smile.

"One sake bottle, coming up."

--


End file.
